A College Persuasion
by mind-the-apostrophe
Summary: She hadn't seen him in years and though she wouldn't admit it, she loved him more than ever... Watch as a contemporary Anne Elliot deals with college, family, class distinction, and an old friend who has just reappeared in her life.
1. Chapter 1: Moving In

"Anne, is that seriously all you brought?" Mary asked her elder sister, raising an eyebrow at the small pile of bags on the floor.

"Yes." said a voice coming from behind of a mountain of books. Eighteen-year-old Anne Elliot was sorting through her things, attempting to make order out of chaos in her new college dorm room. She straightened up and pulled back her long black hair, which had unfortunately gotten frizzy from the heat.

"When I go to college I'm bringing more clothes than you." Mary said picking at her manicured finger nails. "Jesus, it's hot in here! Can't you get a room with air conditioning or something?"

Anne rolled her eyes. She immediately regretted inviting Mary to her college move-in day. Her sister, though energetic enough to complain, couldn't really muster the strength to get up and help her. 

"Mary," she said. "All freshmen have to live in these dorms. They're traditional."

"They're old." Mary corrected. 

"It'll be cool soon." Anne said, placing a box fan on the window sill and plugging it in. "At least, I hope it will..."

"When I move into my Ivy League dorm, I'll spring for an air conditioning unit."

Anne was tempted laugh at the idea of her sister's higher education, but she refrained. Though the thought of Mary going to this school seemed ridiculous, Anne knew that the Elliot family legacy would probably ensure her acceptance. Nepotism was funny that way.

A clear voice sounded from the door. "Hello? Anyone home?"

Anne turned to see a very pretty girl. She reminded Anne of a model from a J Crew catalogue. Her hair was strawberry blonde, stick straight, and miraculously shinny (despite the humidity). She gave off an air of sweetness that almost made Anne suspicious.

"Hi." Anne said a little more meekly than she would've liked. "I'm Anne. You must be Lisa."

Anne held out her hand, but Lisa just walked briskly over and hugged her new roommate enthusiastically. Mary smirked at the awkward display from her spot on the bed.

"I'm so happy to finally meet you!" Lisa said breaking contact. "You sounded so nice on the phone." Anne noted her mild southern accent.

"Like wise." Anne said smiling. She glanced down self consciously at her athletic shorts and old field hockey shirt. "Sorry, I'm kind of gross. I've been moving in."

Lisa laughed. "No worries. Gosh, how excited are you? College!" She flopped down on her bed.

"Oh, Lisa," Anne gestured toward Mary. "This is my sister Mary. She's a senior in high school."

"Oh! Which high school?"

"Kellynch Academy in New York." Mary said popping her gum.

"Wow!" Lisa said. "That's really something! I went to school in Texas."

Mary put on her infamous fake smile. "Do you miss the farm, then?"

"Lisa!" Anne intervened before Mary could say anything else pretentious. "Could I help you carry up some bags?" Anne noticed that Lisa had come upstairs without her things.

Lisa smirked. "Don't worry, darling. They'll be up shortly."

"Did you hire movers?" Mary asked. "That's was Anne should've done." she glared at her sister.

"No, dear." Lisa said with a sparkle in her eye. "I just asked some boys from downstairs if they'd be so kind as to help me. People are so friendly here!"

Anne laughed. She couldn't help but admire that. She knelt down in front of her things and began unpacking again.

After some time, there was a soft knock on the open door and two boys came in carrying what Anne assumed were Lisa's belongings. "Hello?" the first one called out.

"Oh, hello." Lisa drawled, standing up to greet them. "You can put those right there, boys." She pointed to the floor next to her closet. "Thank you." her voice sang out sweetly.

The first boy set the suitcases down and moved aside. There was another taller one behind him who was attempting to place down the three boxes he was balancing.

"Let me help you with that." Anne said, hurrying forward.

She grabbed the box on top which was covering his face. As she did so, she caught a glimpse of him and yelped, falling to the ground in a less than graceful manner, taking both boy and boxes with her. 

"Oh my gosh, Anne, are you ok?" Lisa rushed over to help her up.

Anne's eyes were fixed on the person in front of her. She saw all the familiar features she'd remembered: his dark eyes and hair, his expression, his chin... everything. 

"Sorry-" Anne managed to stutter. From the corner of her eye she caught her sister walking out of the room on her cell, not doubt distracted by other things. "I'm really clumsy." she faked a smile and stole another quick glance just to make sure it was really him.

It was.

She was about to say something when the first boy, who had gone unnoticed by Anne to this point, spoke up. He seemed shy, but his longish chestnut brown hair and delicate features gave him a friendly look.

"Hi, I'm Ben." he said. "This guy causing all the trouble is my roommate, Rick." 

"Nice to meet you both." Rick nodded and shook their hands.

Was he serious? Anne thought as she nodded back. She seemed composed on the surface, but her stomach was churning nervously.

"This here is my roommate, Anne- wait, what's your last name again?" Lisa asked.

"Elliot." Anne said looking directly at Rick. "Anne Elliot."

The four stood there in an awkward silence, though only two could truly identify the complicated cause of it.

"Well, I guess we should go." Rick said slowly.

"Thanks for bringing my bags up!" Lisa followed them as they walked out. "Let's all hang out soon, ok?" she called down the hall.

She turned back to Anne. "Wow." she said. "How cute were they. I love college! Did you see his eyes?"

"Whose eyes?" Anne asked, attempting to unpack and return to normalcy again.

"Rick's!" Lisa crooned. "I heard that he's in Navy ROTC here. Can you imagine seeing him in uniform..." 

"Would you excuse me please?" Anne asked politely. 

"Sure, hon."

Anne calmly walked down the hallway to her new bathroom, entered a stall, leaned over the toilet and threw up.

This was not how Anne had pictured her first day of college.


	2. Chapter 2: Denial

Lucky for Anne Elliot, she was graced with a convenient talent of denial. For example, she was in denial about the impossible course load she'd taken on her first semester of college. She told herself that adjusting to college was easy, while inside she was having a panic attack. She pretended that she wasn't scared about meeting new people and that she wasn't intimidated by the endless sea of strangers. She acted like Lisa's country music didn't really bother her and that the moaning coming from the dorm next door wasn't what she thought it was. Most of all, she was in denial about how nervous Rick Wentworth made her.

"Anne!" Lisa said in frustration one night at the dining hall. "Didn't you see them? You didn't even wave! Rick and Ben just walked by."

"Oops... I guess I didn't notice." Anne lied. In reality, she'd seen them coming from a distance and proceeded to bury her face into her calculus book.

Lisa shook her head. "You seem really jumpy lately. What's going on?"

"Nothing." Anne shrugged. "I guess I'm just overwhelmed."

"You need to let loose." Lisa said, biting into an apple. She looked down at Anne's book. "Why are you even reading that stuff? Aren't you an English major or something?"

"Yeah, but I have to fulfill a requirement." Anne said. She slammed the book shut after another minute of skimming. "I give up." 

"Anne, I know just what you need." Lisa said.

"What's that?"

"A night out!" Lisa said excitedly. "Come on! Trust me, you really need it. It'll be so much fun. Hey! Maybe we could invite the boys..."

Anne was about to protest when her phone rang for about the tenth time that evening. She glanced at her cell and silenced it, opting to call back after dinner.

"My, aren't we Miss Popular tonight?" Lisa teased. "Was that your mom or something? I know mine's been calling me constantly since I got here."

"Um...no." Anne said awkwardly. "My mom died, actually."

Lisa put down her apple, looking completely horrified, "Oh gosh, I didn't know! I'm so sorry."

Anne smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. It was a long time ago. I was thirteen. That was actually her younger sister on the phone just now. I guess my aunt has filled her shoes because she's been checking up on me a lot lately."

After dinner, Anne went outside to call her Aunt Grace back.

"Anne!" she said after she picked up. "I've been trying to reach you for hours!"

"Sorry. I was eating dinner." she answered. "What's up?"

Usually when Aunt Grace called it meant one of two things: she had a message to give Anne from her father (who could never find time to call her himself) or she wanted to set her niece up with a nice boy. Anne wasn't at all surprised when the conversation steered toward the latter option.

"So..." Aunt Grace said with a clearly excited tone. "I was talking to my friend Mrs. Thomas today. Do you remember her? She's in the DAR with me? I think she came to your father's birthday party last year."

"I might remember her. Why do you ask?" Anne could almost smell her aunt's cupid arrow.

"Well, it turns out she has a son at school with you. He's a sophomore majoring in economics! Isn't that something?" Aunt Grace asked.

Anne rolled her eyes. "Sure is. Let me guess. You think the two of us should get together... maybe go on a date...perhaps get married and breed?"

Anne could hear her aunt laugh heartily. "Dear, don't be silly. Still, meeting him wouldn't hurt, would it? He's a very nice boy from a very nice family. I think you'll like him."

When discussing the opposite sex with Aunt Grace, a "very nice boy" was usually code for "very rich."

"Fine, I'll meet up with him." Anne said, giving in. "But if he's a mouth breather like the last one then I'm out! I know you mean well, but some of these guys aren't the sharpest tools in the shed. They're just tools."

"Don't worry." Aunt Grace said. "Charlie is different. I promise you won't regret it. But Anne, would you do me a favor and just try and look nice when you meet him? Maybe put on a dress? Lipstick? Anything?"

"Alright, alright." Anne said. She'd heard this hundreds of times before. "I get it. I promise I won't dress like a truck driver of a hooker."

"Ahem."

Anne whipped around and saw Rick walking by her. Horrified, she hung up the phone on her aunt without explanation. She silently cursed her bad luck as she left the scene with as much dignity as she could muster. In her hurry to escape, she didn't catch the amused smirk on Rick's face.


	3. Chapter 3: A New Date, an Old Memory

"Anne, stand still or I'm going to poke you with this eye pencil."

Anne sighed and tried not to fidget. She couldn't belief she was letting Lisa get this close to her with a sharp object. When Anne mentioned to her roommate that she had a date that night, Lisa switched on her gears and sprung into action. It was nice of her to offer (actually, it was more insisting than offering), but Anne always preferred a clean face without make-up. Lisa was giddy with excitement. Anne secretly suspected that she'd been searching for an excuse to make her over since the beginning of the year.

"See," Lisa said as she continued to touch up her face. "You could look so pretty if you just took the time."

Anne wasn't sure if that was a compliment, but she let it slide. "My mom never taught me this stuff, I guess. How's the sorority going, by the way?" Anne asked, trying to change the subject.

"So good! Thanks for asking!" Lisa said, moving on to lipstick. 

Anne had met a few of Lisa's new friends from her pledge class. Each was pretty, sweet, and outgoing (though admittedly ridiculous). Just the other day while Anne was trying to study, she witnessed Lisa and her sorority sister, Amber engage in an in depth conversation about the benefits flats over kitten heels. 

"By the way, Rick mentioned something about you the other day...which is weird now that I think about it. Do you guys even talk? You're always busy when he comes around." Lisa said.

"Wait- what?" Anne said a little too quickly. "I mean...what did he say?"

"Mmm.." Lisa thought for a moment. "Oh I remember! He mentioned that he used to know you. Did you two go to school together? I thought you went to boarding school."

"I did my last two years of high school." Anne said. "We both lived in New York. _So, what did he say about me?_" she asked again, trying to steer Lisa back on track.

"That's strange. Were you two friends?"

One aggravating thing about Lisa was that she tended not to listen...to anything.

"We were...acquaintances." Anne said strategically. "Now, didn't you mention something about him...?" 

"Oh right!" Lisa finally said. "He just mentioned how you looked really different and it was a good thing that I introduced you because otherwise he wouldn't have known! Isn't that funny?"

Anne grimaced. "So funny."

She looked in the mirror Lisa had placed in front of her. She had to admit it: Rick was right. Anne used to care about her appearance, but those days had long past. Granted, Anne always looked put-together, but unlike before, she aimed to blend in to the background. She'd let her short flipped hair cut grow out, split ends and all. Her priorities were more about comfort than anything else. Anne would often walk to class and run into girls in cute dresses, high boots, and designer sun glasses. From time to time she'd glance down at her own jeans and sweatshirt and wonder whether she was more sensible, or just lazy. 

Lisa made her way to Anne's closet and opened it. It was filled with pieces her Aunt Grace had bought her. It was a gold mine of the latest trends and expensive labels, but Anne rarely opened it. Lisa proceeded to take out different articles of clothing to create an outfit. Eventually, she tossed Anne a knee length voluminous skirt and a navy cashmere sweater set.

Anne held them up and raised her eye brow doubtfully.

"Come on, this guy sounds like one off those old fashion types." Lisa assured her as she handed her a string of pearls. "Chuck will love this!"

"Charlie."

"Whatever. He'll eat it up."

Anne was surprised to discover that Lisa had been right. She gathered from the slow 'once over' that Charlie must've liked that wholesome look. Anne was even more surprised to discover that she liked Charlie. He was a good guy. Granted, there was absolutely no chemistry, but Anne really enjoyed herself. Charlie was friendly and considerate. 

"I think it's safe to assume that we've been set up." he joked when they sat down at the restaurant.

She laughed. "Oh yes."

"I think your aunt and my mom have too much free time."

He talked for most of the dinner about his economics classes and his car- things Anne didn't really care about. Still, if there was one thing Anne Elliot was good at (besides being in denial) it was listening.

The only awkward moment of the evening came when Charlie walked Anne home to her dorm. They were outside her building when it happened: Charlie leaned in for a kiss and Anne turned her head.

"Thanks Charlie! This was fun." she said after his lips hit her cheek.

He seemed slightly confused, but smiled anyway. "Anytime." he muttered as he retreated.

"Anne Elliot! What were you thinking!" Lisa cried when she returned to the room. "I saw it all happen from the window. _The cheek_? You gave a perfectly nice, cute boy _the cheek_? Seriously?"

"I didn't want to kiss him." Anne explained feeling rather defensive.

Lisa rolled her eyes. "You don't have to marry him, Anne. Not even a good old fashioned, PG, virtuous peck for the guy? Let's face it, darling, you haven't gotten any action all semester."

"Hey!" Anne said. She was in awe of Lisa's ability to be both silly and insulting at the same time. She shed her cardigan for a hoodie. "I don't need to kiss him to prove a point. I didn't like him like that. Why lead him on?"

"Anne," Lisa lowered her voice to a normal level. "Not every guy has to be _the guy_. What are you waiting for?"

Anne didn't answer that question. She decided to pack up her books and go to the library for the rest of the night. Lisa invited Anne to a late party, but Anne only wanted to distract herself with work.

The truth was, under all the denial and cool logic, Anne Elliot actually was waiting for one boy. He was probably the only person on earth who could make the sensible, collected Anne completely crazy.

She lied to Lisa. She and Rick weren't just acquaintances in New York. They'd been best friends since the age of eight- since the first time Rick spun her around in the large chair from his mom's hair salon. Mrs. Elliot used to go there every week and bring the enthusiastic Anne with her. It was as if she'd kept those memories in storage just to avoid them. She remembered now: the way he used to make her laugh, how he saved her all the blue M&Ms, and the way he stood up for her. She remembered how he was there for her after her mom died and how after that, her dad, a less accepting parent, wouldn't let her visit him in Brooklyn. Anne remembered the line they used to dance around when they hit their teenage years; it was that delicate line between friendship and love. She remembered how she'd cried when Aunt Grace and her father decided to send her away for her last two years of high school. She remembered the way they used to talk about Rick... and they way Rick used to talk about them.

Most of all, she remembered the night before she left for boarding school. Rick came up to her family's Manhattan home to see her. He told her to stay. He told her that he loved her. He kissed her. He kissed her and she didn't do anything. She finished packing and left on a flight the next morning.

It had been almost three years since that night and Anne Elliot hadn't kissed anyone since.


	4. Chapter 4: Late Night Chivalry

Anne Elliot was sitting on the second floor of the library, thinking about how much she hated Shakespeare. She rested her head against her book for a few minutes, praying for some small relief from her studies. Unfortunately that didn't come.

"It is 1:50 am and the library will be closing in 10 minutes." a clear, crisp voice rang out over the loud speaker.

Anne groaned, her face still in her hands. She looked up to see no one. Not a single soul was in the stacks at this hour on a Friday night. Luckily, she'd gotten most of her paper done for the next week, so though she was tired and feeling mildly pathetic, at least she could cling to a feeble feeling of accomplishment. A moment later, she gathered up her books and laptop and made her way to the stairwell.

"Anne?"

She looked up and saw Rick making his way down the stairs with a group of guys. 

Seriously? Anne thought to herself. Now?

"Hi, Rick." She hugged her volume of Shakespeare plays to her chest. She suddenly became aware of the fact that she was wearing a hoodie and sweat pants. 

"Are you on your way back to the dorm?" he asked. Anne saw his group hovering behind him awkwardly. 

Anne nodded. "Yeah. They're kicking us out, I guess."

Rick was unreadable. He wasn't being rude on any accont; he'd approached her and said hello, but there was something in his air that made him distant.

Rick turned to his friends. "Go ahead and go to Alan's apartment without me." he said, waving them off.

"But we still have to finish the project." Someone piped up.

"I know." Rick said. "I'll meet you there later."

His study group left him and Anne on the stairwell.

"It's a group project for engineering. We're pulling an all-nighter." he explained. 

"Oh." she said. 

They began walking up the stairs and made their way outside into the cold. Anne suddenly realized that this was the first time they'd been alone together all year.

"Rick shouldn't you go with your friends if you have to work on a project?" Anne asked as they walked. She was wondering why Rick would blow off this classmates like that. 

"Anne, it's 2 AM on a college campus. I'm not going to let you walk home alone."

Anne felt herself blush, but was thankful that the darkness hid this from Rick. She should've known he would walk her home. Hate, love, or apathy, Rick Wentworth would always be chivalrous. That would never change.

The silence was so loud that Anne thought she could feel it buzzing in her ears. Were they so far apart now that they couldn't even keep up conversation for a ten minute walk? 

"How's ROTC?" she finally asked. 

"Fine." he answered. "It takes up a lot of time and effort, but I think it's worth it. They pay for school."

"So you're set on engineering?" Anne remembered how good Rick had been with numbers. She may've gone to prep school while he attended public school, but he was always better in math and science. Rick liked things straightforward with logical steps and one right answer.

"I think I'll do chemical...or biomedical." he said. "My mom still has this dream that I'll be a doctor." a smile swept across his face. Anne wasn't surprised. She knew how much he loved her.

"How is she?" she asked. "Is the salon doing alright?"

"Business is fine." Rick said. "but I'm glad I got the scholarship. I wouldn't have been able to go here otherwise."

"I bet she's really proud of you." Anne said. "I was really surprised to see you on move-in day."

"What? You didn't think I could get in?" 

"No!" Anne said quickly. "That's not what I meant. I mean...sorry for knocking you over that day."

"Oh." he said. He shifted his backpack to his other shoulder and looked over at Anne. "Are you cold?"

"No." Anne lied.

"You're wearing a hoodie in 40 degree weather. Do you want my jacket?"

"No! That's ok, I'm fine." Anne said. Rick was about to take off his fleece, but stopped. He shrugged. In a moment of weakness, Anne, who usually avoided looking at him, allowed her eyes time to roam curiously. Rick was taller than she remembered him- at least 6'2''. His hair was shorter now, probably because of ROTC. There was something more severe in his manner too. She looked away when he caught her.

"Did you enjoy your date the other night?" Rick asked her.

Anne had not been expecting this question at all. "How'd you know I was on a date?"

"Lisa told me."

"You seem to be spending a lot of time with Lisa these days." Anne said, before she could stop herself.

"She's nice." he said plainly.

"I didn't say she wasn't." Anne countered.

Anne tucked her dark hair behind her ear nervously. From the corner of her eye she saw Rick's gaze follow her hand.

"What?" she asked.

He cleared his throat. "Your hair is longer, isn't it?" he asked. 

They stopped walking. Anne couldn't place the meaning in the sudden softness of his voice. What was he thinking? When he looked at her, did he list flaws and differences or note reminisces of a friendly face? Anne knew then that no matter how distant they were or pretended to be, a connection still existed. It might've been weak, but it was there. She knew.

"Yeah." she answered, walking up the steps to her door. Turning she said, "Thanks for walking me." She had the urge to hug him then, but she sensed the contact would've been less than desirable on his part.

Rick shrugged. "I would've done it for anyone." 

Anyone?

Anne shuffled to her bed, looking forward to closing her eyes and pretending that she'd never heard him say that.


	5. Chapter 5: Invisibility and Novels

When Anne Eliot was little she wanted to be invisible.

No, really.

She would stand straight up against her family's formal living room wall and close her eyes, willing herself to blend in with the printed paper like a Chameleon. 

"_What are you doing?" Rick tilted his head curiously and stared at his strange friend against the rosebud wall paper. Anne's eyes were shut tight and her face stoic. She didn't make a sound. "Are you dead or something?"_

_Mrs. Eliot walked by the room and looked in on the two eight-year-olds. She grinned and winked at Rick. She brought her index finger to her lips. "Shhh" she said pointing to Anne._

_Rick looked back at Anne. "This is no fun." he said simply and proceeded to tickle his friend out of her silence._

"_Stop! Stop!" Anne shrieked, giggling uncontrollably. Rick did as he was told, and Anne rewarded his obedience with a good pinch._

"_Hey!" he cried. "What was that for?"_

"_For ruining the game! Boys ruin everything. I don't know why I play with you." she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes._

"_You were just standing there! What's the point of being invisible anyway? Wouldn't you rather fly like Superman?" Rick inquired._

_Anne smiled smugly. "When you're invisible, you can see everything that goes on around you. You can watch things happen and no one knows you're there."_

_Rick didn't like it when Anne played that game and never really understood its appeal. He didn't get to talk to her (the rules were strictly enforced) or touch her (though that never stopped him from poking or tickling). What was so great about being invisible? He couldn't play with Anne was she was invisible. _

"Excuse me?"

"Uh? What?" her head jerked up. A voice had awakened Anne from her two-minute doze.

A brown-haired boy was towering over her desk. "Sorry, but is this seat taken?"

Anne shook her head and gestured for him to sit down. She straightened up and took a large gulp from her coffee mug. Monday was in the air.

"You're Anne, aren't you?" 

The guy who just sat down was talking to her. This was strange. In the little time she'd spent in college, Anne Eliot had picked up some anti-social tendencies in class. Some might say it was because she was hardworking and studious, but in reality, the excuse was simple shyness.

"Yeah, that's me." she answered, wondering how on earth he knew her name.

He shook her hand. "I'm Ben. I carried up Lisa's stuff on move-in day, remember?"

"Oh!" Anne said. "Ben! Sorry I didn't recognize you. I guess I was tired." 

Ben had a serious, artistic look about him. From what she saw – the pile of anthologies he was carrying, the band on his tee-shirt, and his long hair – he was as far from Rick Wentworth as one could get. 

"Are you an English major too?" Anne asked, looking at his volume on Romanticism.

Ben nodded. "I want to study 19th century poetry."

"Wow." Anne said. "Byron, Blake..."

"Coleridge, Yeats..." Ben finished her list. "It's the best."

"That's interesting." she said feeling amused. "I haven't met many guys who love Romantic poetry."

Anne and Ben eventual quieted down with the class and spent the next fifty minutes listening to the lecture and scribbling away in their notebooks. Afterwards they grabbed some coffee and continued to talk. Unexpectedly, Anne found herself connecting with Ben and the friendship was clearly welcome on both sides. It had been too long since Anne was engaged in an intelligent conversation and by the way Ben eagerly responded to her, she could tell he felt the same way.

"I remember that large stack of novels you had in your room." Ben said. "It was impressive."

"Oh yeah." Anne said, remembering the mountain she'd created on move-in day. "Lisa made me put them under the bed." Anne could still hear the high-pitched yelps her roommate would make whenever she tripped over her stacks. Eventually, she concluded Lisa's safety came before her amusement so she moved them out of the way.

"Do you two get along?" Ben asked.

Anne nodded. " But we're really different."

Ben agreed quickly. "I think that's pretty obvious."

Anne laughed. "Yeah, but she's really sweet and I think we live together well. Trust me, I could've been stuck with far worse. I'm very thankful."

"I was lucky too. Rick's a quality guy. You remember Rick, don't you? I think he was there that day."

Anne furrowed her brow and pretended to sort through her memory. "Think I remember him. Sure..."

"Anyway," Ben continued. "He's actually been a big help to me lately. My, uh, girlfriend just dumped me." He looked down at his hands awkwardly.

Anne felt her heart break a little for Ben right then. It was times like these that she felt ashamed of her sex. She wondered what kind of girl would dump one of the only openly sensitive men on the planet. It was a sad mystery.

"Rick is the perfect guy to go to about that stuff." Anne said encouragingly. "He's a great listener."

Ben raised his eyebrow. "I thought you didn't know him."

"I don't." Anne said quickly. "I mean, that day I met him he looked like a good listener, you know?" She was thankful that her lame excuse wasn't questioned.

"He actually went through a similar situation." Ben explained. "A girl he knew from New York ripped his heart out." Anne's eyes shifted nervously. "By the way he described it, she sounded like a man-eater."

"Wow. She sounds pretty...mean."

Ben nodded. "Why do girls always do that? They lead us on, give us encouragement, then when we've finally made the commitment they cut us loose without a tear. Is that normal?"

"Well..." Anne had so many thoughts swimming through her head at that moment. It was difficult to add eloquence to the mix. "Sometimes things are more complicated than they appear. It's not as if women are emotionless leeches. Most of us are just scared of getting hurt or maybe we're just confused about our feelings. You need to cut us some slack. Granted, some girls have bitchy tendencies, but you can't generalize that. Things aren't always what they seem. Maybe men should be more empathetic and recognize some of the pressures women our age have today." Anne snapped back from her runaway rant and saw a very confused Ben staring at her. She cleared her throat. "Still, one claim I'll make for my sex is that we love longest- at least from what I've seen."

Ben sighed. "Someone's been reading too many novels." he said.

Anne looked him in the eye, and without breaking contact, grabbed his empty coffee cup and tossed it successfully into the trash can ten feet away.

"And what's so wrong with that?" she challenged.


	6. Chapter 6 : The Manly Perspective

Rick Wentworth slammed the door to his dorm room and collapsed on his bed.

"Long day, uh Captain Wentworth?" Ben asked, not even looking up from his computer screen.

"Kill me now." was all Rick could say. He rolled over, his face in his hands and let out a groan. "I can't take much more of this, Ben." After waking up for early classes, he had studied in the library all afternoon, ending his day with a run. Everything from his head to his feet ached.

Ben smirked. "What? You mean between Naval ROTC, engineering, pre-med requirements, and tutoring you're starting to feel stressed? Interesting..."

"You're not funny."

"I try, said Ben.

Rick got up and faced his roommate. "Maybe I should just become an English Major like you."

"You'd hate it." Ben reminded him. "Reading, writing, no numbers...you'd go nuts after the first week." He grabbed a water bottle from his shelf and threw it to Rick. "How many miles did you just run?

"Six? I think..." Rick said. "Thanks for the water."

"You know," Ben started. "You could always quit tutoring. It isn't required, Rick."

Rick sighed. The thought had crossed his mind. Twice a week he volunteered at a local middle school to give one-on-one help with math. "I guess I could..." Rick started.

Ben rolled his eyes. "Who are you kidding, man? You'd never quit. You'd probably die sooner than give it up- which I'd like to point out is very possible."

He laughed. "True."

Ben went back to his computer. "So, is Lisa coming over again tonight?" he asked him nonchalantly. Ben didn't mention it to Rick, but he secretly hoped the answer was no. Lisa's excessive giggling tended to give him migraines.

Rick took off his shirt and threw it in his laundry bin. "Maybe." he answered. "Why do you ask?"

"I just noticed that she's coming over a lot lately, that's all."

He shrugged. "She's a friendly girl. I like her."

Ben raised his eyebrows. "You like her?"

"As a human being, yes I do." Rick replied. "What's with the interrogation?"

"I'm just warning you, girls tend to...how do I put it...read into things." Ben said.

Rick looked confused. "Do you think she thinks that I'm-?"

"Who knows. Just some advice." Ben offered. He started packing up his backpack.

"Well, from one man to another, thanks for the wisdom. Are you leaving for the library?" Rick asked.

"Yeah. I'm actually meeting Anne there. You remember Anne, right? She's Lisa's roommate."

Rick spilled some of his water. That was the last thing he expected Ben to say. "Sure I remember her. Dark hair? Kind of tired looking? Quiet?"

Ben laughed at his descriptions. "Dark hair, yes. Tired? Not so much. Quiet? That's about the last thing you'd call her after to get to know her. You should talk to her sometime. She'd pretty cool."

"Do you have classes together or something?" Rick asked, hoping his roommate didn't notice his voice crack.

Ben nodded. "She's in my major and really smart – the perfect study partner. I guess with a roommate like Lisa, she's been shoved out of the spotlight. I think you'd like her. "

Rick's face was stony. "I'm not so sure." he said to himself as Ben left the room.

Anne Elliot. Anne Elliot. Rick Wentworth repeated in his mind. Even when he went out of his way to avoid her, she always found her way back into his thoughts. Fate had an odd sense of humor.


	7. Chapter 7 : Nine Fingers

Anne found herself thrown in with Lisa's bubbling social circle, which consisted of many people in her dorm

Anne found herself thrown in with Lisa's bubbling social circle, which consisted of many people in her dorm. The first few months it was easy for Anne to be introverted, but as time past socializing became unavoidable. Still, she got on well with the people there. To her surprise, Ben became an especially good friend.

"I feel like we're the outsiders, you know?" he joked to her one day in their class. "I've never been very smooth or outgoing like Rick."

Ben talked about Rick...a lot. Anne tried to listen without looking too uncomfortable whenever he mentioned his roommate. "There are about fifty girls who are mildly stalking him right now. Lucky guy! I bet that keeps him busy..."

"Oh really?" Anne asked. "Not much time for studying, then?"

Ben shook his head. "That's the sad part. He's a genius. He's an engineering student with perfect grades. I didn't think that was possible. Life isn't fair."

"Tell me about it." she answered. She hated Rick for being so wonderful.

Just before winter break, Anne was sitting in her dorm common room late one night after her last final. Most people had finished at that point were just biding time before leaving for home.

She was reading a book at the corner of the room when Lisa called her over to the circle.

"Anne!" she said. "Come join us!"

Anne smiled, reluctantly placed down her novel and walked over. She immediately regretted this choice.

As she approached the circled up individuals she saw that their hands were extended in front of them. That could only meet one thing.

"Ten fingers!" exclaimed another girl from her floor.

Anne cringed. She quickly glanced in the direction of Rick who looked rather sick too. She knew that even with his charm and ease, he was still a very private person at his core.

Anne took a seat next to Ben. They went around the circle slowly and Anne felt pretty stupid with all ten fingers up. Anne detested this game with every fiber of her being and couldn't believe she's let Lisa persuade her into staying. As far as Anne was concerned Ten Fingers was just uncomfortable detail after uncomfortable detail forced to simmer together awkwardly for all to see.

What really caused commotion was when Anne and Rick confessed their virginity to the entire room through process of elimination.

"Omigosh!" Lisa had yelped at Anne. "You didn't put a finger down! Really Anne?"

Anne wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

"Wait!" a guy named Jess called out. "Rick! You didn't either."

Anne's head shot up. Rick smiled and brushed it off well. Anne couldn't help but admire him for it. He probably wasn't the only guy, but the only one comfortable enough to admit it.

Ben's turn was next. "Never have I ever ...been in love."

Without even thinking, Anne placed a finger down. She looked across the circle and saw Rick's finger move. For a brief moment they made eye contact then looked away.

Ben looked down at Anne's hand and smirked.

"How bout that." he said.

When the evening ended, Anne went back to her room to pack. She couldn't wait to leave college for an entire month. Maybe the distance would make things easier.


	8. Chapter 8 : Shopping with Aunt Grace

"Anne, I really wish you'd doll yourself up now and then

"Anne, I really wish you'd doll yourself up now and then." Aunt Grace said to her, placing a dress up to Anne's frame.

They were shopping along with Mary. Anne had gone home to New York City for her winter break and her Aunt insisted that the Elliot women bond and spend money together.

"Comfort is my concern." Anne said.

"That's your problem." Mary said. "You have nice clothes, you just don't wear them anymore and instead you go around in jeans and sweatshirts."

"When you're in college you'll understand." was Anne's answer

Mary looked doubtful. "Suuuure."

"Anne," Aunt Grace said later after Mary had left them for the shoe department. "How's school going? I know your grades are good, but what about other things?"

"Well, things with Lisa are ok. We get along pretty well." Anne said as she ran her hand over a cashmere sweater set. "I, um, ran into Rick again."

Aunt Grace stopped. "Rick...that was the boy who-"

"Yes."

"Oh, I see. How was that?"

"Well," Anne said. "It wasn't just once. I actually see him a lot."

"You're not dating that boy are you?" Aunt Grace asked quickly.

"No!" Anne interjected. "No, trust me, far from it."

"Oh." Aunt Grace seemed mildly relieved.

"It's just...I don't know. It's weird between us. We're so used to not talking to one another. It almost makes it more awkward if that's even possible."

"Darling," Aunt Grace placed her hand on her niece's shoulder. "Promise me that you won't force something."

"What do you mean?"

"I know you must feel so strange. I mean, you were best friends as children and now you two aren't close, but that doesn't mean there's a problem necessarily. It's been a long time since you were together. It's possible you just grew apart. You're different people. Don't force a relationship just because you think there should be one."

Anne nodded. That made sense.

"Besides that, are there any boys?" Aunt Grace asked.

Anne laughed. "Just my friend Ben. No real boys."

"Not even Charlie?" she asked suggestively.

Anne Elliot rolled her eyes. This was going to be a long afternoon.


	9. Chapter 9 : Jumping Off a Bridge

Anne was surprised at how much she liked Charlie.

But not in that way, of course.

He was the old-fashioned type. He opened car doors for her, picked up the tab at dinner, and walked her home at the end of the evening. Luckily, he didn't go for a kiss the second time, so all awkwardness was avoided. All in all, the date (if you could even call it that) went just as Anne expected it to. It was the perfect fizzle-down to her Aunt Grace's twisted set-up.

Anne walked back into her dorm wearing the outfit her Aunt Grace convinced her to wear over the phone. She found it extremely annoying and had to keep adjusting her cable knit cardigan over her strapless green dress. Still, Aunt Grace had insisted that "the color would match your eyes and compliment your dark hair. Just promise not to wear that long hair of yours in your face!" As you can guess, Anne ended up wearing a matching headband as a result.

She found Lisa waiting inside to talk to her and extract all the interesting details of the night. Lisa was rather disappointed to find out that there were none.

Anne kicked off her heels and sat at her desk. "It was nice, but no fireworks."

"I'm not surprised." Lisa said. "Maybe you should give it another try."

Anne shrugged. "It's pretty obvious that we're just friends now."

"I hope you don't mind, but the boys will be up soon. We're going to hang out here tonight." Lisa said.

Before she could protest or sprint from the room, Ben, Rick, and their friend Evan came through the door and closed it behind them. She was trapped.

Rick gave Anne a double take, but it was Ben who spoke.

"Anne, you look really nice." Ben said. "I didn't know you owned a dress."

She nodded. "It's a miracle. It just appeared in my closet, can you believe it?" She looked over and caught Rick starring again. He looked away.

"Anne was on a date!" Lisa exclaimed.

.

Ben laughed. "Impressive, Elliot. Did you seduce him?"

"Not exactly." she said.

"Enough with the chit chat." Evan said, taking a case of beer out. "Shall be drink ladies and gents?"

"Yeah!" Lisa said. "Rick come sit by me!"

Rick grabbed two cans and went to sit next to Lisa on her bed.

"Pass me one, please." Anne said.

The other four turned at the same time to stare at her. "Really?" Ben asked amused.

"What?" Anne asked opening the can and taking a drink.

"Jesus, it's always the quite ones isn't it?" Evan laughed.

Ben winked at her.

An hour and few beers after, Anne was rather tipsy. Lisa was trashed. Evan was drunk. Ben was buzzed. Anne couldn't really tell what Rick was, but he definitely became more talkative.

"Lisa, if someone told you jump off a bridge would you?" he asked randomly

Evan burst out laughing for no reason.

"Welll..." Lisa giggled. "I'd say no! No!"

"That's admirable." Rick said taking another swig of beer. "Some people will just do whatever people say. It's sad, really."

Anne gave him a stony look.

"What about Anne?" Ben asked. "Would you jump off the bridge?"

Before answering she glanced over at Lisa who was now cuddling against Rick and touching his face. Rick looked a bit uncomfortable, but Anne didn't seem to notice or care about that detail.

"Depends on how high it was, but sure why not?" Anne said.

Evan laughed.

"Anne, are ok?" Ben slurred. "You look sick."

"Not sick. Just disgusted." she said looking over at Lisa and Rick again.

"Well, if you are going to be sick be sick in this." Ben threw her the trash can. She caught it with one hand.

"I'm not going to throw up. That's not what I meant." she said.

"Probably never threw up from booze in your whole life, uh Elliot?" Evan asked.

"So what? Why is being good so bad these days?" Anne asked frustrated. She didn't see, but Rick had turned his head to listen to her.

"Guys like more easy going, laid back girls." Evan challenged.

"Maybe I don't care what other people think." Anne said. "Maybe I don't care because some people will stereotype me and all of my actions no matter what I say. Maybe those aren't the type of people I want to hang around."

Rick cleared his throat.

"Poor little rich girl." Evan teased.

Anne took off her cardigan and threw it at him. "Punk."

The last thing she remembered about that night was Rick Lisa giggling on her bed.


	10. Chapter 10 : A Reluctant Damsel

Anne bent over and stretched her legs.

In five minutes she'd be starting the Spring 5k for the area food bank. She'd tried to convince Lisa or Ben to run with her, but they resisted.

"I don't remember the last time I ran a mile put together." Lisa said shaking her head.

She even asked Charlie, who she ran into earlier that week, but he had plans out of town that weekend.

Ben had only said, "Running? Are you kidding me Anne?"

So there she was alone. Still, she was excited. She used to play field hockey in middle and high school and was looking for an excuse to get back in shape. She always felt happier when she ran.

She positioned herself in the middle of the crowd when it was about to begin.

"Anne?"

She turned to her left to see the source of the voice. It was Rick.

She completely forgot that the ROTC students usually ran in these races. She hadn't spoken to Rick since they drank together nearly a month ago.

"Oh. Hello."

"Nice day for a run." he said politely.

"Yup." Anne answered. His niceness felt odd. She was still searching for an excuse to dislike him. "It's a good cause."

"Yeah. It's a good way for me to stay in shape"

The whistle sounded and Rick was already off before Anne noticed it had begun at all. She collected herself and started running. She never had good reflexes.

About a mile in she noticed that Rick was 50 yards in front of her. She picked up the pace slightly and caught up with him shortly. Rick looked sideways and saw her running next to him. He sped up a bit.

So did Anne.

Rick couldn't help but be impressed.

Anne would never admit it, but she was dying. Keeping up with a guy like Rick wasn't the easiest thing on earth. It was as if an obsessively competitive force was inhabiting her body and making it pass limits she never knew she could. She picked up the pace even more and after a minute or two passed Rick again.

Rick saw her go, her shorter legs making long strides and her long pony tail swinging behind her. What was she doing?

Anne couldn't really explain where this intense desire to beat Rick was coming from, all she knew was that she couldn't slow down.

She was in the last quarter mile now and could see the end.

All of a sudden, a tall figure appeared at her right side. Rick was running fast for his finish. Anne had to quicken her stride and they were neck and neck then each started sprinting until-

Anne, who was so focused on the finish line, didn't see the pot hole in her path. She hit the pavement hard, but not before rolling her ankle.

"Ugh!" she cried. She didn't know what hurt more- her foot or her pride.

She sat there pathetically for a while and saw people's legs pass her. A hand extended out to help her

It was Rick's.

"Thanks." she said. "I think I'm ok." She tried to limp a few steps, but Rick saw the pained look on her face.

"Anne, I think you need help."

"No!" she insisted, putting a smile on her face. "I'm good, really."

She stumbled after that and Rick caught her. With one swift movement he picked her up and began carrying her to the finish line.

"Rick! Put me down I'm fine!" she said.

"No you're not. Stop lying."

She realized that her arms were around his neck and for a second she felt tempted to bury her face into his chest Thankfully, she resisted the impulse.

"Thanks." she said softly as he reached a chair near the finish line.

"I'll go call Ben." he said. "He has a car and can drive you back."

She nodded.

A few minutes later Rick picked her up again and sat her down in the car.

"You coming?" Ben asked from the driver's seat.

Rick shook his head. "I have to meet someone." Anne had a sinking feeling that the "someone" was female.

"See you back at the dorm." Ben said, driving away. "So..." he said to Anne. "I assume you at least had a graceful fall?"

"Shut up." Anne said, leaning back.

"That'll teach you." Ben said. "You should've slept in like me."


	11. Chapter 11: Dinnertime Talk

Anne kept off her ankle for the next few weeks, making navigating around campus harder than usual.

"I can give you a ride any time you like." Charlie assured her over phone.

"Thanks, that's sweet, but my ankle is actually feeling much better. I started walking without the crutches yesterday."

"Still, if you do..."

"Then I know who to call." Anne said nicely. She hung up the phone and went back to her dinner. She was eating with Ben and Lisa at the dining hall.

When she looked up from her baked chicken she saw their broad grins.

"What?" she asked

Lisa snickered. "You and Charlie are absolutely adorable."

"Wait-what?" Anne asked appalled.

Ben nodded in agreement. "He like, follows you around."

"No, he does not!" she interjected. She paused and looked from Lisa to Ben and thought for a moment. "You really think he does?" she asked finally.

"Oh yeah." they said together.

"But I'm not that type of girl, you know?" she insisted. "And I thought I've been very clear with my signals that I like him as a friend."

"Oh, you have." Ben said. "He just chooses to ignore them."

Anne groaned.

"Hey Freddy, come sit with us!" Ben suddenly called out. Anne looked up and saw a sea of white uniforms. The ROTC students had just entered the dining hall, Rick among them.

"Call me Freddy again and you'll wish you hadn't." Rick said, sitting next to Ben. "Hey Lisa, Anne."

"Hey." Anne said.

"You look good in your uniform, Rick" Lisa said, giving him a once over.

Anne felt sick.

"Thanks," he said.

"We were just discussing Anne's interesting love life." Lisa said.

"No!" Anne said.

"Oh we were. It was fascinating." Ben said to Rick.

Rick smiled surprisingly. "How interesting."

"She's whipped this guy, you see..."

"Ben! Shut up!" Anne threw a french fry at him. "You guys suck."

"Is this that Charlie guy that came with us to the movies the other weekend?" Rick asked Anne.

She nodded, recalling the awkward memory.

"He's nice." Rick commented. "I hear he has a nice family." he took a sip of water and gave Anne a challenging look.

"I don't see him in that way, but he keeps-"

"Calling?" Ben offered.

"Stalking?" Lisa said.

"No." Anne answered. "He just...I don't know. I guess I should be more clear."

"That sounds like a good idea." Rick said. "You don't want to lead a guy on, right Anne?"

"I doubt that Anne's heart won't be so easily won." Ben said

Anne looked around disbelievingly. "Since when did I become the most interesting dinnertime topic?"

"Since now." Lisa said, her eyes twinkling. "Has any boy succeeded, Anne? Can it be done?"

Anne paused. "I've never been in a relationship."

"Really?" Rick asked, but then stopped himself.

"Not even in high school?" Ben asked.

"No time for dating."

Lisa smiled. "You know what, I bet you're one of those quiet, brooding girls suffering from unrequited love, am I right? You seem the type."

"What?" Anne almost laughed. "Seriously guys, we're in college. Can we talk about something else, please?" she asked almost desperately.

"Yes, aren't we supposed to be having deep and meaningful conversations at this point in our lives?" Rick said. He quickly changed the subject and Anne felt relieved. It almost felt like old times, when she felt like he could read her thoughts.

That can't be true, she thought quickly, brushing off the notion.

"Let's talk about poetry." Ben said smirking.

Lisa forked at her chicken. "Of course Ben wants to talk about poetry. Could you be any more predictable?" she asked.

"I don't mind." Anne said.

"Rick and I are numbers people, right Rick." she said touching his arm.

He nodded. "You bet."

"Why?" Anne asked suddenly.

Rick met her glance. "Why do I like it?"

"Yes." she challenged.

"I like getting a right answer. I like working toward a goal. No complications."

"Maybe there doesn't always have to be one right answer." Anne said. "I like the interpretation."

"I like clarity." Rick said.

Anne was amazed. They were talking- actually talking.


	12. Chapter 12 : Friends, right?

To some people money meant prestige, honor, and tradition. Those thin green slips were magically powerful; they multiplied happiness and created opportunity. To Anne Elliot, however, her family's money meant responsibility. It was the propriety, the boarding schools, and those little formalities that made the greatest impressions on her growing up. She was under obligation to attend an endless string of fundraisers, benefits, parties, and debutante balls.

This day was just another day in this pattern of responsibility. Her father had donated funding for a new astronomy building on campus and as predicted, he was invited (along with Anne and her family) to a formal reception at the groundbreaking. Anne, of course, hadn't seen her father in months. As smoothed out her dress and straightened her pearl necklace like a good little girl, she wondered what one earth she would say to him.

Luckily, her unpleasant thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Coming!" Anne called as she looked in the mirror one final time and walked over to open it..

"Oh." She said, taken aback by the person she saw.

Rick Wentworth gave her a friendly smile. "Is this a bad time?" he asked tentatively.

Anne gathered her senses. "Oh, of course not. Come in, please."

Rick stepped into her room as she instinctually started to tidy up. She grabbed the pile of clothes on her bed she'd been trying on only minutes before and threw them in her laundry bin.

"Anne…" she heard him say.

"Yeah?" she asked, her head buried in her closet.

"You really don't have to clean up for me."

She turned around to face him. Surprisingly, he seemed amused by her OCD.

"Sorry." She said. "I guess it's a nervous habit." She cursed the words the second after they left her mouth.

Rick chuckled. "Do I make you nervous then?" he joked.

Anne blushed. "No, of course not." She lied horribly. "Well, I'm glad you stopped by, but as you can see Lisa isn't here. She went home for the weekend, actually."

"Oh, I know." He explained. "I actually came to see you."

_What?_

"What?" Anne slipped out. "I mean, why?"

Anne couldn't explain it, but Rick's ease made her more nervous. For months now they've rarely been alone and when they were together there was usual some degree of social discomfort lining their conversation. How was it that now – as he acted natural and friendly like old times – Anne felt like a wreck?

"I wanted to thank you for something."

"Thank me?" Anne asked, a grin escaping her lips. "For what?"

Rick sat down on Lisa's bed. "You've been a really good friend to Ben since school started. He was in pretty bad shape before."

She nodded. "Yeah, he told me about his girlfriend."

"Anyway, I'm very grateful for what you've done for him."

"Well, everyone needs a friend." Anne said.

Rick looked down at his hands for a moment. Anne noticed that he was fiddling with the ends of his sleeves. He'd always done that, even when they were kids.

"There something else." He said, eyes still downward.

"Yes?"

He looked up at her and asked hesitantly. "We're still friends, right?"

Anne's mind was racing. The first images that came to mind, as bizarre as it sounds, were sandboxes, tantrums, and play dates. It's funny how each of them had had to ask that question to the other numerous times throughout the years. Sometimes it was about toys, games, or fights in their teenage years. Right now, the way Rick was looking at her reminded her of each one of them.

And each time they'd forgiven each other.

"Of course." She answered.

Rick sighed with relief. "I just – I mean, it hasn't been clear lately-"

"I know."

The two stared at each other awkwardly for a moment. Anne felt like she was eight years old again, only this time she couldn't spilt her popsicle in half for a peace offering.

"Well, I guess I should go now…" he said. "Thanks for talking."

"I'm glad we did."

Just as he was about to leave he turned back. "I almost forgot." he started. "There's this Navy Ball next weekend and I was wondering if .."

Anne held her breath. Was this really happening?

" …if you'd like to come with my friend Henry."

_Oh._

"Lisa said she'd go with me and he needed a date. It should be fun."

_Oh._

"Sure." Anne heard the word some out of her mouth. "Why not?"

"Great!" Rick beamed. "We'll pick you too up around seven, ok?"

Anne watched Rick walk to her door, feeling a bit dazed after that let down. He paused and leaned against the threshold.

"You look really nice, by the way." He said, looking her in the eye.

Before she could say goodbye or even process his last statement, Anne realized that there was someone right behind Rick giving her a stern glare.

"Hi, Aunt Grace." She said softly.


	13. Chapter 13 : Enter Handsome Stranger

"Hello Anne." Aunt Grace said to her niece with a sugary sweet sort of tone.

Anne gestured toward Rick. "Aunt Grace, I think you remember Rick, right? Rick Wentworth."

"Nice to see you again." Rick said.

Aunt Grace looked him up and down. "Oh yes. I remember now." Anne could tell by the look on her face that those memories weren't completely fond.

"I'm going to go now, Anne." Said Rick with a stony face. Anne didn't really blame him.

"Well," her aunt said after he left. "I see you two are chummy again."

Anne rolled her eyes. "Do we have to talk about this now?" she asked.

Aunt Grace sighed. "Of course not, dear. You look wonderful, by the way. Is that the dress I bought you?"

She nodded. "Shouldn't be leave now? The ceremony will start in a few minutes."

"We have to wait for your sister." Aunt Grace explained. "She stopped by the ladies room, but she'll be here soon. Oh Anne, I almost forgot to tell you. Mary started dating someone new."

"Really?" Anne asked trying her best to sound interested. "Who?"

"That nice boy, Charlie that you turned down."

Anne's greatest desire in that moment was to fall over and laugh, but she mustered every ounce of her self control to refrain. For weeks now she noticed how he'd miraculously left her alone. Before, she thought it was just luck. Now she knew better. Poor Charlie had fallen victim to a double attack from Mary's romantic spider web and Aunt Grace's cupid arrow.

"They met when he came home one weekend. Isn't that sweet?" Aunt Grace asked.

Anne nodded. "Truly."

"What's sweet?" Mary asked, joining them.

"Your relationship, of course!" Aunt Grace said happily.

"Oh, that. Yeah." was Mary's epic response. "So are we going to go to this thing or what?"

The groundbreaking ceremony was set up very nicely. Aunt Graced commented on how well the catering was and how the University had obviously used classier chairs and outdoor table settings than last time she was there. To Anne, it all looked the same.

"Ow." She said. Someone walking briskly by had just bumped into her.

"Excuse me." She heard a male voice say. She turned around for an instant and saw a tall, handsome student staring down at her. Though he was in a hurry before, he paused to flash Anne an approving smile before walking away again. Anne tried to pretend like she wasn't impressed. She _tried_.

She walked back to her family's table near the podium and took her seat.

"This should be boring…" mumbled Mary, as the ceremony started

"Welcome!" said some old guy Anne didn't recognize. "My name is Harper Collins, Vice President of the Alumni Association. I'm so glad to see so many people out here today to recognize Mr. Elliot's generosity." People applauded, of course. Anne managed to clap her palms together twice. "Here to introduce the man himself is our Student Body President, William Eaton III."

And there he was. The unidentified, handsome student was walking up to the podium and shaking hands with the old guy. Anne sat up a bit straighter.

"Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentleman." He began with a confident, smooth voice. "On behalf of the students here at the University I'd like to express our deepest gratitude to the Elliot family for their donation. It's truly an honor to see –"

"Anne! Pst! Anne." Her Aunt Grace tapped her arm and she turned her attention toward her.

"Yes?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Do you know who that is?" she asked,

"Sure." Anne said, watching her aunt's face light up. "That's the guy I ran into on the way back from the bathroom."

She scowled. "No, dear! That's William Eaton – as in Senator Eaton from New York."

"He's the Senator's son?" Anne asked.

"Yes!" Aunt Grace said. "Did you know he was your Student Body President?"

Anne shook her head.

"He's hot." Mary commented a little too loudly.

"Shhh!" Aunt Grace warned her.

_So that's where he learned that prize-winning political smile_, Anne thought to herself. Though she had to admit, she agreed with Mary.

After the ground breaking and Anne's rather embarrassing encounter with the ceremonial shovel, she managed to talk to her father enough to update him on the basics – school, health, and overall well-being.

"Good, honey. I'm glad." He said, patting her on the back.

Her father sure knew how to construct a Kodak moment.

"Mr. Elliot?" Will Eaton came out of nowhere to shake her father's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you again."

"Of course, son." He said. "This is my alma mater and I'm glad to contribute. Have you met my daughter Anne? She's a freshman this year."

"Yes, actually, but it was very brief." He winked at her.

Anne was taken aback. The last person to wink at her was her kindergarten teacher.

"It was memorable, though." She commented.

"You think so?" he asked, smiling.

"Well, the next time you see your father, Will tell him I say hello." Mr. Elliot said.

He nodded. "Will do, sir." He turned to Anne before he left. "And it was nice meeting you…again."

Anne raised her eyebrows as he walked away. _Did that really just happen?_


	14. Chapter 14 : Preparations & Phone Calls

"Anne, does this dress make my butt look big?" Lisa maneuvered herself in front of their mirror trying to get a good angle on her backside. Lisa had bought a new dress for the University Naval Ball that night and at present, was assessing well it clung to her body

"Lisa, your butt is very small. I promise." she answered, looking up briefly to appease her roommate.

"Hey, Anne," Lisa said as she put on her dangly earrings. "isn't that your phone?"

She looked over and saw her phone vibrating on her desk. She picked it up and saw an unknown number on the screen. She answered it anyway. "Hello? This is Anne Elliot."

"Hi Anne."

"I'm sorry, but who is this?" she asked skeptically.

"Will Eaton."

Her heart stopped momentarily and an awkward silence ensued.

"Anne, who's that?" Lisa asked curiously.

Anne covered up the mouthpiece. "Will Eaton." she answered, slightly shocked.

"What?!" her roommate cried. "Will Eaton- as in Senator's son-Student Body President-Abercrombie Model look alike-Will Eaton? Are you serious?!"

"Shhh!" Anne warned her desperately.

"Anne?" she heard him ask over the phone. "Are you still there?"

She cleared her throat and collected herself. If there was ever a time to be calm, it was now.

"Hi Will." she finally got the words out of her mouth

Lisa was practically jumping up in down watching her speak to him.

"I'm sorry this call is a little out of the blue." he said. Anne couldn't help but notice how nice his voice sounded.

"It's no problem." she said, a smile escaping her lips.

"Actually," he started. "you know how I'm the editor of the school paper?"

"Yeah, I'd heard that." she admitted.

"Well, I wanted to feature a piece in our next issue about the new building." he explained. "Do you think we could sit down sometime for an interview? You're not free tonight by any chance, are you?"

"Um...I actually have to go to the Naval Ball tonight. Maybe some other time?"

He laughed. "Busy girl, uh? Well, how about coffee next week? Is Wednesday good for you?"

"Um...sure, I think that can be arranged." Anne said, trying to keep her voice steady while Lisa was shaking her arm frantically. "I should go now."

"Alright. Well, it was really nice meeting you the other day. I'm looking forward to Wednesday." he said warmly.

After she hung up the phone she was bombarded with squealing questions from Lisa. Anne thought it was strange that her roommate seemed more excited about this than she was. Luckily, before the interrogation got too out of hand, there was a knock on the door. Rick and his friend had arrived at last, forcing Anne to sweep all distractions, including Will Eaton, out of her mind.

Now, it's not everyday one has the pleasure to see many fit, attractive men in white uniforms. Anne and Lisa were fortunate enough to experience that rare visual treat the night of the University Naval Ball.

When the two opened their door that night, Anne tried her best not to betray her reaction to Rick's presence. Her face was unreadable, but inside she knew she was melting. Lisa had spent most of the late afternoon hours ensuring that her hair was just so and her makeup was flawless. Unsurprisingly, she achieved her goal. Anne had to admit that her roommate looked very nice in her long blue gown. Anne on the other hand took a simpler route in the style department. Instead of an all out ball gown like Lisa, she chose to sport a knee length strapless cocktail dress and wore her hair in a French twist.

"You look very nice, Anne." Rick's friend Henry said, slipping a white corsage around her wrist.

Anne smiled thankfully, but her eyes were focused else where. She spotted Lisa giggling in delight as Rick whispered something to her. He looked up for an instant and nodded kindly to Anne. Her stomach dropped like a bag of stones.

_I__sn't being friends just grand?_ she thought sarcastically.

"Shall we?" Henry offered his arm to her. The two boys led their dates outside to the car.

This would certainly be a very long night for Anne Elliot.


	15. Chapter 15 : Dancing Past and Present

Anne's date proved to be a perfectly nice person, but nothing more in way of romance. In fact, Henry spent most of their time together talking about his girlfriend across the country that sadly couldn't make it to the dance. Anne, being the compassionate listener that she was, nodded politely as he spoke, hoping that he didn't notice how she glanced over a Rick every chance she got.

The dancing portion of the evening had begun and Henry seemed perfectly content sitting at the table. Rick, on the other hand, was a bit more eager.

"Lisa, come dance with me." he said grabbing her hand and leading her to the floor. The song was a fast swing number. Rick attempted to twirl her around, but Lisa practically tripped over her feet.

She burst out laughing. "Rick, you never told me you could do this stuff!" she cried. "I'm a hopeless dancer. I guess you'll have to show me how..."

Anne wasn't sure how Lisa expected Rick to react to this bit of flirting. Maybe she thought he'd give her a step-by-step lesson. Perhaps she pictured him bringing her in close and showing her how to position her body. She doubted that Lisa expected Rick to grab another girl to demonstrate with.

And that's exactly what he did.

Before Anne could protest or process what was happening, Rick grabbed her hand and pulled her up from her sitting position at the table. Music still going, he spun her in circles, dipped her, and pulled her in closely. She gasped.

* * *

_"Rick!" Anne laughed uncontrollably as her partner showed off. "Rick, I'm getting dizzy."_

_He stopped at her command. "Are the old socialites scowling at us yet?" he asked amused._

_She leaned in and whispered into his ear. "We should probably dance a bit more traditionally. This is a debutant ball, after all."_

_"Yes, but it's your debutant ball." he pointed out. "You're 'coming out.' Doesn't that mean you can let loose with your escort if you want to?"_

_Anne sighed. "It's a little hard letting loose in this dress."_

_Rick smirked. His good friend who usually came over to his house in jeans and tee shirts had transformed before his eyes that night. He knew that her family sometimes dressed her up like a doll every now and then, but this was the first time he'd witnessed it. After about a month of begging him, Anne had finally convinced him to escort her to her "coming out' ball._

_"Please!" she'd begged him weeks before. "If you don't come, then I'll have to ask someone boring who can't dance and likes to talk about golf!"_

_So, he'd decided to save her. It was the nice thing to do. Still, when he saw her walking down the stairs that night in her white gown, a small part of him forgot that he hated her world and he found traditions like this one ridiculous. For that brief moment, as he looked at her and saw his best friend in a different light, Rick Wentworth had forgotten that this whole thing was supposed to be a favor._

_"I'm glad your mom taught us how to dance." she said, beaming. "You're pretty light on your feet."_

_"Hey." he said. "I've always said, it takes a real man to know how to lead a woman across the dance floor."_

_Anne rolled her eyes. "Don't let your skills inflate your head, Wentworth."_

_All of a sudden the music changed to a slow Sinatra tune. They stopped dancing awkwardly for a moment, but then Rick grabbed her hands once more._

_"Oh come on." he said winking. "The slow ones are easy."_

_Anne leaned in to him, her face over his shoulder. He'd never noticed how nice she'd smelled before – like vanilla and roses._

_She looked up at him smiling, "Did I say thank you for coming tonight? It really means a lot. I know this is the last way you'd choose to spend your weekend."_

_Rick grinned back. "I couldn't let you go with another guy." he joked._

_"Ha ha." she said, placing her head back on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of being sixteen and dancing to Sinatra with her best friend._

* * *

Anne's eyes locked with Rick's, their bodies pressed together in some odd memory muscle deja vu. She tried to wrap her mind around her present situation.

"Woah, guys!" Henry cried from the table. "You two look like you've done this before. Show us another move, Wentworth."

As Anne blushed at his words, she felt Rick spin her in and out again, then under his arm. Though her nerves were jumping, her body was surprisingly relaxed, no doubt happy to be repeating the familiar motions from her past.

Then, the slow song came on just like it had when she was sixteen. She held her breath starring at him, wondering what he would do and whether history would repeat itself. For a split second she thought he was going to dance with her – that he would pull her in tightly like he had years before and sway back and forth to the beat.

"Rick!" Lisa said, jumping in. "It's my turn now!"

Before letting her hand go, Rick leaned forward and whispered in Anne's ear. "Thanks for the dance." he said softly, taking in the familiar scent of vanilla and roses lingering around her neck.

"Anytime." she said, feeling paralyzed.

The rest of the ball passed by in record speed. Anne could hardly register any of it. Honestly, her head was spinning from that dance. She could barely keep conversation up with Henry.

Eventually it all ended and the four of them walked toward Henry's car.

"Are you guys going to the after party on 10th Street?" he asked.

Anne's first instinct was to say no. She was tired and all she could think about now was shutting her eyes and waking up the next morning.

When Lisa saw her roommate's lack of enthusiasm she ran over and linked their arms together. "Oh come on Anne." she begged. "Let's go. It'll be fun! I won't go without you. Please."

Anne sighed, and after an instant of deliberation, caved in.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Lisa cried.

If only Anne Elliot had known that the night was far from over...


	16. Chapter 16 : Sirens

"Are you having fun?"

"WHAT?" Anne yelled.

"I said are you having FUN?" Henry repeated.

"Uh..." Anne started. She really didn't know how to answer that question.

The after party was slightly rowdier than Anne's taste. Anne liked having fun as much as the next girl, but tonight she wasn't in the mood for bumping music, crowded rooms and diluted beer.

"Do you need another drink?" he asked her over the music.

She shook her head. "I'm fine." Anne's eyes were surveying the many faces around her. She'd been at the party for almost two hours now and she knew that the sooner she found Lisa, the sooner she could convince her to go home.

"I'll be right back." Henry said to her as he shuffled his way through the swarm.

Anne sighed and stayed parked in her spot against the wall. All she wanted at that moment was to get out of her formal dress and curl up under her covers.

"Hey there." a random guy situated himself next to Anne. He leaned over her. "Want to dance, sweetie?"

She winced at his breath. "I can't dance." she lied. "Sorry."

"Aw, come on." he said, running his hand over her bare arm.

Anne attempted to back away, but only found bodies behind her. Sadly, she was trapped.

"I have a boyfriend!" she lied again. "He's coming over soon, so you should probably go."

"What he doesn't know, won't hurt him..." he started.

"Excuse me." a strong voice interrupted from behind Anne. "Honey, is this guy bothering you?"

She whirled around and saw Rick. She wanted to burst out laughing, but retained her composure well enough to play along.

"I think he's done now, sweetie." she said, throwing a smug look at the unskilled Casanova next to her.

"Good, because you know how protective I can get." Rick said, towering over Anne's intruder with his 6 foot, 2 inch frame. The other guy started to back away. His mind was probably calculating how many minutes – no, seconds- it would take a guy like Rick to kick his ass.

"Sorry, man. I didn't know" he said, trying to act cool. Without another word, he disappeared into the crowd, leaving Anne very relieved.

"Thanks!" she cried, turning back to Rick. "You saved me!"

He smiled. "Anytime. Hey, why did Henry leave? He shouldn't have left you alone."

Anne shrugged it off. "Aw, he's been a good date. He'll be back soon, I'm sure. Have you seen Lisa? I really want to go home."

Rick shook his head looking concerned. "I wanted to ask you that same question. She wandered off about thirty minutes ago. I have no idea where she is."

Anne bit her lip. "How much has she had?" she asked.

"She was pretty out of it last time I saw her." Rick confessed

_Oh no_, Anne thought. This was far from ideal. One bad thing about Lisa was that she didn't know her limits. Anne was starting to seriously worry. Suddenly, she felt Rick's hand in her own. She looked up into his eyes.

"Hey, come with me. We'll find her ok?" he said softly. Hand still wrapped around hers, his firm, comforting grip led them out of the packed room and upstairs to the main level of the house.

"Lisa?" he called out. "Lisa?"

Anne did the same, her gaze searching over every room and corner they passed.

They heard some ruckus outside and the two quickly sprinted out the door. On the lawn of the house was Lisa, looking groggy and semi-conscious. She was hanging off of another guy neither of them recognized. He seemed to be helping her on her feet. Anne ran forward. Any fatigue she'd felt earlier in the night was washed away. Practical Anne sprung into action, ready to take care of the situation. Rick was close on her heels.

"What happened?" Anne cried. Rick grabbed Lisa's other arm and held her up from her left side.

"I found her stumbling around out here." the guy explained. "I was trying to bring her inside. She's had a lot of shots tonight..."

"Why didn't you stop her?" Anne asked desperately.

"She seemed pretty determined..."

Just as Anne groaned in frustration, Lisa's knees went out from under her and she crumpled to the ground.

"Oh my God!" Rick said, catching her then laying her down on the grass gently.

"We need to pinch her to see if she's responsive." Anne said, getting on her knees and leaning over her roommate. Everyone else was either clueless on how to help, or too shocked to act. Anne found herself bossing people around right and left. She leaned over her roommate and pinched her forearm as hard as she could. When Lisa didn't respond, Anne's breath caught in her chest.

"You!" she cried, pointing to the unidentified male now looking over the scene. "Call 911 now! Rick, help me push her over on her side."

When Anne looked up, she saw Rick staring at her. It was a strange expression somewhere between fright and admiration that she couldn't quite place. He grabbed her hand and squeezed. A part of Anne wanted to cry, but she knew that she had to keep her composure. Rick nodded to her as if to say, "_Don't worry. Everything will be alright."_

They waited until the sirens came.


	17. Chapter 17 : The One Person Conversation

Ben's glorious deep sleep was interrupted by loud salsa music. Cursing his annoying ring tone, he glanced at his clock before answering his cell phone. It was 2:30 a.m.

"Hello?" he managed to croak out.

"Ben, it's me." Rick said. "Listen, I need you to drive over here."

"Where's 'here'?" he asked.

"The hospital."

Ben jumped out of bed. "Woah, woah. Are you O.K.? What's going on?"

"I'm fine." he assured him. "Lisa's here. She had alcohol poisoning and the doctors are keeping her here over night."

"Oh my God." Ben said. He pulled on pants and grabbed his keys as he balanced the phone between his head and shoulder. "I'll be there in ten minutes."

* * *

Some color was starting to come back in Lisa's cheeks, but she was still sound asleep. Anne's head rested on the side of her bed, her hand on top of her roommate's. The past few hours were a few of the scariest that she could remember. Anne hated hospitals with a passion. It was something about the smell and the harsh lighting. It also didn't help that the last time she'd been to a hospital was when her mother came in and never stepped out.

"Anne?" someone whispered in her ear. "Anne?" She felt a light squeeze on her shoulder. Her eyes flickers open and she saw Rick and Ben standing over her.

"What's going on?" she asked Rick. "Did you call Henry?"

Rick nodded. "Yeah, I called him a while ago. He knows what happened."

Anne noticed Ben's presence in the room. "What's Ben doing here?"

"Ben's going to drive you home, O.K.?" Rick said, helping her up from her chair.

"I'm fine here." she insisted.

"You've done all you can." Rick said. "You should really get some rest."

"You both should." Ben pointed out, taking the vacated seat next to Lisa's bed. He shoved his hand in his pocket, pulled out his keys and tossed them to Rick. "Why don't you take the car back and make sure Anne gets home? I'll stay here with Lisa."

Rick opened his mouth to protest, but Ben seemed pretty determined. "Alright. Thanks, Ben."

Anne was so drowsy she didn't even notice Rick tenderly placing his hand on the small of her back and leading her gently out of the room.

"I hate hospitals." she mumbled, eyes half open. Rick helped her into the front seat of Ben's car.

"I know you do." he said softly.

A few minutes past during the drive home where neither of them said a word. At first Rick felt uncomfortable reveling in silence, especially after such an exciting night, but when he looked over he knew why she wasn't talking. Anne wasn't avoiding him. She was asleep.

"You were amazing tonight." he said, knowing that she wasn't listening. "How is it that you always know what to do in every situation? I wish I could be like that."

He glanced over at her again, but she was still motionless.

"You're mom was like that too." he continued. "I bet you really miss her, don't you?"

Still nothing. Rick sighed. He felt slightly ashamed that he could only talk this openly with her when she couldn't respond. Something about talking to her now was relieving for Rick. He had a lot he wished he could say. Anne's head shifted down a bit against the seat and she let out a soft moan, but didn't wake up.

"I'm sorry I let things get so messed up." he said "I shouldn't have kissed you that night. I ruined everything, didn't I?"

She answered with silence.

"Yeah, I can be pretty selfish sometimes, but you know that." he chuckled. "You were always the first to tell me, even when we were kids."

The night lights along the road were streaming by, making glowing streaks across the windows of Ben's car. The only noise was the humming of the engine and Anne's steady breathing as she slept.

"God, I missed you." Rick said, barely above a whisper.

He pulled into the parking lot behind their dorm and parked in Ben's usual spot. Rick leaned over and gently shook Anne's shoulder.

"Wha-?" she asked, squinting her eyes. "Are we home?"

"Yeah." he answered. He got out of the car and walked to the other side to open her door for her.

Anne was beginning to regain her senses. "Thanks." she said, attempting to smooth out the formal dress she'd been wearing for over eight hours now. They walked silently to Anne's door. Rick, who had been so talkative only moments before didn't really know what to say to her now.

"Thanks for driving me, Rick." she said, giving him a half smile.

"Get some sleep, O.K.?"

She nodded then did something that surprised them both. Anne Elliot leaned forward into her old friend and wrapped her arms around his midsection tightly. Rick was taken aback, but placed his arms around her as well to return the gesture. It wasn't even the action itself, but the fact that she did it so naturally. It felt so comfortable, like they'd been doing it everyday and not one time in three years. Rick noticed how she seemed to fit perfectly against his chest. Anne breathed in his all too familiar scent drowsily and sunk into the hug. She held her place there for a bit longer than intended.

Without a word, she turned away and shut the door behind her.

"Goodnight." Rick said to the closed door.


	18. Chapter 18 : The Interview

"My parents are going to freak out when they see this hospital bill." Lisa told Anne over the phone a few days later. The shock of the weekend's events had died down by then and both roommates had once again embraced the normalcy of their everyday lives.

"They might." Anne answered honestly. "But I'm sure they'll be glad you're alright. That's the most important thing. How are you feeling lately, anyway?"

"Oh, I'm fine now." she answered. "I've been taking it easy. Ben gave me a few books to read while I relax."

"Really? What kind of books?"

"Stuff I wouldn't normally read unless I was forced." Lisa confessed.

Anne laughed on the other line. "Are you suffering, then?"

"No, actually." she said. "They're pretty interesting. Also, I'm feeling a lot more cultured these days which is a plus in my book. So, where are you anyway?"

"Bernie's Cafe." Anne answered.

"Why are you at Ber- Oh my God!!" Lisa cried into her phone. "Oh my God! I totally forgot that today was your 'special' afternoon with Will Eaton! Anne, that's so –"

"Settle down, Lisa!" Anne urged. "It's just coffee and an interview. Don't shop online for china patterns yet."

"You need to tell me absolutely everything, ok?"

"Sure, but I should probably go now. He'll be here any minute." Anne said.

She hung up quickly and looked around. Across the crowded room she saw a familiar tall, dark and handsome figure come through the door. It reminded Anne of one of those Hollywood, slow motion entrances where mood music plays in the background and the natural lighting shines perfectly on the subject. Her stomach tightened a bit when he flashed his well-known smile in her direction. Anne had to admit, Will Eaton had charisma spilling out of his pores.

"Anne," he said, pulling up a chair. "Thanks so much for coming."

"Oh sure." she said. She crossed her legs and fidgeted around in her chair nervously. "I'm glad I could help with the article."

He smiled warmly at her. "OK, great. I guess I'll start asking you some questions then."

"That would make sense." she joked. "Shoot."

"What do you think prompted this generous gift to the university?" he asked.

"Who knows." Anne answered bluntly.

"Has he always been interested in astronomy?" Will asked, trying his luck at another question. "He did put the money toward a new astronomy building, after all."

Anne shrugged. "Um... as far as I know, he's never really cared."

"So..." Will asked, slightly confused. "In your opinion, why did he donate the funding?"

"Because he could."

Will laughed. "Really?"

Anne bit her lip. "Sorry, is this far too honest?"

"Yes, but I find it refreshing." Will said, looking amazed. "I get it, trust me. I have a father whose life revolves around P.R."

"Um...am I on the record?" Anne asked nervously. The last thing she wanted was her apathy to be publicized on the front pages of a newspaper.

Will shook his head. "Can I confess something?" he asked, leaning in closer. "I'm actually not writing an article on the building."

"Oh really?" Anne asked, intrigued. "Then why did you want to meet me?"

"Maybe I wanted an excuse to see you again." he answered.

Anne stared at him, a feeling of utter bafflement taking over her body. That was just about the last answer she expected to come out of his mouth. In her entire life, she couldn't remember one instant when a male had ever pursued her like this. Granted, her last two years of high school she attended an all girls boarding school, but these things usually happened to other girls. For instance, it was normal for Lisa to attract the chasing fraternity brothers to her door. Anne had never had the effect. Then again, she'd never aimed for it either.

"You look surprised." Will said.

"I- I am." she said in disbelieve. "Are you sure you've got the right girl?"

"Oh yeah." he said, grinning broadly. "I do."

Anne stared into his animated green eyes and smiled. Still, her practical and suspicious side was telling her that there had to be some sort of catch to this. That side was silenced quickly when Will brushed a stray hair behind her ear. This guy definitely knew what he was doing.

"Alright," Anne said slowly as she started to collect herself again. "Since this is an interview, why don't you tell me about yourself. I don't know much."

"O.K." Will said, straightening up in mock formality. "My name is William Peter Eaton III, the only child of the Senior Senator from New York, William Eaton Jr. I'm a Junior in college double majoring in Political Science and History. I'm editor of the school paper and the Student Body President. Back at home in Albany I have a small dog named Scruffy. In my free time I like to read, work out, and goof off with my friends. Oh, and I hate carrots. Also, I met this really great girl the other day at a function that was supposed to be very boring for me, and now I'd really like to take her out. " He extended his hand.

_Nice answer_, Anne thought to herself. She took his hand, trying to keep a straight face. "Nice to meet you William Peter Eaton III."

"What about you?" he asked.

"The name's Anne Emily Elliot and I'm a freshman majoring in the very useful subject of English Literature." she started. "I've lived in New York City my whole life, minus two years I spent in an all girls boarding school. Don't ask about the scandalous stories – they don't exist. Boarding school really is that boring, I promise you. Let see...I don't have any pets, but I have my little sister Mary who can sometimes act like an animal. I'm sorry to tell you that I'm not interested in politics at all and I actually love carrots."

"That's sad." Will joked. "I really thought it was going to work out between us."

Anne laughed. "Sorry I had to ruin it."

"Well, now that we know more about each other, would you be interested in going to dinner with me sometime?"

Anne paused. She didn't really know what this would mean. If she said yes, she'd be dating a wonderful guy that her Aunt and family would approve with enthusiasm. It seemed like the perfect situation for her. It would please all parties involved. Why was she pausing again? That was a good question. If this was so perfect, Anne couldn't help but wonder what exactly was making her hesitate.

"Anne?" Will asked after some silence. "You still there?"

She looked back and him and decided to dive in. "I think that sounds great."

"Perfect." said Will. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to buy you a cup of coffee."


	19. Chapter 19 : Anne's Second Kiss

On the first date he took her to a nice restaurant. On the second they went to a local play. On the third he set up a picnic in the park. After that, Anne Elliot stopped counting.

Unfortunately, quiet girls like Anne were often overlooked by the opposite sex. They were just pretty enough and just average enough to blend in among other faces. These girls would look at boys like Will Eaton their entire lives and build up countless expectations – the cars they drove, manners they had, clothes they wore, and lines they used on other girls. To Anne's delight, Will not only fulfilled these fantasies but surpassed them. Despite her logic and sense, all Will had to do most days was smile and that would be enough to make her melt.

Dating someone like Will had dizzying side effects. For instance, Anne started wearing more of the clothing her Aunt Grace bought her. All of her skirts, cardigans, and sundresses came out of their hiding places while her jeans and tee shirts stayed folded in her drawer. Also, she would often find herself giddy for no reason. She couldn't stop smiling! Having a boyfriend was doing crazy things to her life. If these changes weren't strange enough, Anne's father called her out of the blue…just to talk.

"Hello?" she answered the phone as she was walking to the library one Saturday. "This is Anne Elliot."

"Hi Anne, this is your father."

"What?"

And it really was him, too. She honestly couldn't remember the last time he made the effort to email her, let alone call. She was very taken aback.

"I was wondering how you were doing." He said plainly.

"Umm…" Anne said slowly. "I'm great. It's good to hear from you."

His deep voice chuckled on the other end. "I know I don't call enough. You always seem to have a handle on things anyway. So…how is school work?"

"Fine." She answered. "I just turned in a paper on Hemingway.

"Great! How's your roommate, Laura?"

"_Lisa_ is good," corrected Anne, "but she had alcohol poisoning the other weekend."

"Great!" her father said again. "How's Will Eaton?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. Clearly, though her father was getting better at calling, he wasn't improving in the listening department. Anne rambled for a bit about Will before her father received a call on the other line a few minutes later. She hung up her phone after that rather surreal conversation and ran straight into Rick on the steps of the library.

"Rick!" she said, smiling widely. "Gosh, it's been a long time since I've seen you!"

Rick was pleasantly surprised by her warm greeting, but didn't question it. "Yeah, it's good to see you to. How have you been?"

"Just staying afloat." She admitted, holding up her stack of anthologies. "It looks like I'm going to be spending my afternoon in there." She motioned toward the large, ominous doors of the research library.

He shrugged. "Tell you what, why don't you study in the courtyard with me? It's a beautiful day."

Anne tucked her long dark hair behind her ear and smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that."

Rick led her to his favorite study tree on the edge of the courtyard and sat down on the grass.

"Do you want to sit down on my jacket?" he asked, eyeing the knee length skirt she was wearing.

"That would be very nice, actually." She said, gratefully accepting Rick's offering.

"It must be hard being a girl." Rick commented as he got his books out.

"Oh, you have no idea."

They were there for a few hours in silence. Anne could always focus more when she was around Rick. Usually, her mind wandered to a different subject every minute when she studied alone, but Rick's determination was infectious. She was glued to the page every moment they were outside that day. She was so absorbed in her reading she didn't notice Rick surface every few minutes to stare at her.

"Hey Anne?" he asked. It was starting to get dark outside.

"Uh mm?" she responded, not raising her head up from her novel.

"It's dinner time. Do you want to stop by the dinning hall?"

"Sure, I'd love to. Let me just- wait! What time is it?" She sat up suddenly and closed her book. Anne grabbed Rick's left hand and read the face of his watch. Rick's stomach jumped when she touched him. "Shoot!" she said. "I'm late!"

"Late for what?"

"I forgot…I'm meeting someone for dinner tonight." said Anne as she gathered up her books. "Sorry for rushing off like this. Thanks for studying with me!" she called over her shoulder, running back to the dorm. Rick stood there feeling an odd combination of disappointment and curiosity. Who was Anne meeting for dinner?

* * *

"I never knew that snails could taste so good." Anne joked at the end of the evening.

Will laughed. "How is it possible that you, an Elliot born and raised in Manhattan, have never stumbled across escargot at a dinner function?"

"Well," Anne said playfully. "It takes someone very skilled to arrange their food just so to ward off suspicion. The tactic has helped me dodge the more adventurous foods of New York. It's taken me years, but I've perfected it to a science."

"I'm impressed. I usually have to resort to napkin hiding at my father's fundraising events. Reelection can be a pain."

"Well, I'm glad I tried it tonight. It was worth it." She said.

"Good." Will said, taking her hand and escorting her outside her building.

The evening was so beautiful, it was almost picturesque. The stars were bright and the sky was dark. It was as if she'd seen it all before on a postcard or in an advertisement. Even Will looked perfect with his dark hair combed back and face neatly shaven. Everything was perfect. Everything was as it should be. Right?

Will stood and faced her, his eyes piercing into hers. "Did I mention you look beautiful tonight?" he asked softly.

Anne returned his gaze. Was this really happening to her?

"Well, you do." He whispered into her ear.

With one hand behind her neck, and another enlaced in her fingers, he leaned in close. He was right there – just millimeters away from her lips. Anne wondered if she had the guts to close the gap.

It turns out, she didn't have to.

After lingering in limbo, Will softly kissed her lips. It was nice. Very nice, actually. Anne was in no way repulsed by this kiss. She just...just…

He pulled away slowly and smiled at her. "Thank you for a wonderful evening."

"You're welcome." Was all she could think to say.

"Can I call you later?"

"Of course."

He squeezed Anne's hand one last time then turned back to his car. Anne walked into her dorm, feeling displaced and dizzy, but she wasn't sure why.

"Anne!" Lisa cried when she stepped into her dorm. Anne got déjà vu for a moment, recalling the time Lisa jumped on her after her first date with Charlie. The only difference between that time and this one was that Ben was in their room.

"Hey you!" he said. "How was your date? You look pretty flushed."

"Yes!" Lisa said excitedly. "You must tell us everything!"

"Um…" Anne said, placing her bag down and grabbing her pajamas. "Later, O.K.? Why don't you finish studying?"

Lisa groaned, but flopped back on her bed next to Ben.

Anne quietly slipped out of the room and made her way down the hall to the bathroom to change. She seemed to be moving slower than she normally did. She was so out of it, she didn't even notice Rick walking toward her, probably headed to her room to study with Lisa and Ben.

"Hey Anne." He said. "You look nice."

She looked up at him. She'd forgotten about the dimple on his right cheek.

"Anne?" he asked questioningly as she stared at him.

She snapped out of her reverie. "Uh…sorry. I'm tired."

"Oh." He said. "Well, I'll tell Ben and Lisa to go to our room so you can go to bed."

"O.K." she said.

"Are you sure you're ok?" he asked. "You seem…uncomfortable."

Anne put on a fake smile. "Oh no, trust me. I'm just wiped."

"Well, get some sleep, alright?" he said, walking away again.

Anne walked into the bathroom, went into the nearest stall and locked the door. She was relieved to be the only one in there. She leaned against the closed door and hugged her pajamas against her chest. She didn't know what was wrong with her. She didn't know why she felt this way. Rick was right. The only word to describe it was uncomfortable. The night, the boy, the kiss…it was all by the book. How could she feel uncomfortable with perfection? Anne noticed her cheeks were damp. _When had she started crying_?

She wiped her tears with a paper towel and threw some cold water on her face. She was just being silly. There was no reason to second guess.

Right?


	20. Chapter 20: Birthday Sunflowers

When you think about it, a nineteenth birthday is a very useless thing. It isn't the legal celebration of eighteen or the numerical landmark of twenty. It doesn't even have the alcoholic beverages of twenty-one. All in all, when the fateful day rolled around, Anne Elliot didn't expect much out of it. She wasn't much for birthdays in the first place. This year, she only hoped to have a normal, trouble-free Wednesday of class, studying, and a celebratory guilty pleasure movie.

"But Sweetie," her Aunt Grace insisted over the phone. "It's your special day. You have to do something nice for yourself. Maybe a dinner with the girls? You could use the credit card and go out on a shopping spree!"

"I'm fine." she insisted. Anne, whose hands were filled with bags and books, managed to hold open the door of her dorm building with her foot. By some miracle, she kept the phone wedged between her cheek and shoulder. College was doing wonders for her sense of balance.

"I know!" Aunt Grace cried. "Why don't you go out with Will tonight? Does he have anything planned for you?" she asked suggestively.

"I don't know." Anne admitted as she started to climb the stairs. "Rick's been so busy commuting home for his fathers' campaign events. I haven't seen him in a few days."

"Rick?"

"Excuse me?" Anne asked absentmindedly.

"You said 'Rick.'" Anne could hear a hint of disapproval in her aunt's voice.

She laughed it off. "No I didn't."

"Yes you did, dear."

"Well, I meant Will." Anne said.

"I should hope so..."

"Anyway," continued Anne. "I didn't even tell him that it's my birthday."

"What?" she cried. "Why not?"

"Aunt Grace, he's busy enough as it is! Besides, I'm not even sure we're at that stage yet..."

"What stage?"

"You know..." Anne tried to find the best words. "That stage, where it's normal to celebrate special events like this."

"Oh." Aunt Grace said. "Well, you'll never know until you ask...or imply."

Anne rolled her eyes and started to unlock her door. "I think it's O.K. to play it safe for now. I mean, I'd rather not pressure Will to do anything over the top just because he can..."

That's when her voice caught in her throat. Anne had successfully unlocked her door, and after stepping into her room she found it much altered from its original state. Her eyes shifted around the space, taking in the countless rose filled vases and scattered petals on the ground. Shinny silver balloons covered her ceiling and the curly, sparkling strings hung down and tickled her cheek. Anne dropped all the books in her right hand and stared. The most unexpected addition to the room was the person standing in the middle of it all – a very familiar, tall figure wearing a suit and holding a light blue box.

"Happy Birthday, Anne." Will said, beaming.

Anne didn't know what to say. She could only stand there with her mouth open and eyes wide. She could hear her Aunt Grace's inquisitive voice call out from her open phone (which she's also dropped on the ground), but she chose to ignore it. Never in her life had anyone of the opposite sex given her flowers, let alone a small botanical garden.

"Do you like it?" Will asked slowly.

"Do I like it?!" Anne asked, a wide grin animating her face. "Are you serious?" She ran up and kissed him happily on the cheek. Will pulled her in close. She was starting to warm to the feel of him.

"I'll take that as a yes." He said, releasing her after a moment.

"But how did you know it was my birthday?"

He smiled. "I have my sources."

Anne glanced down at the blue box he was holding. All females form New York knew what a blue box with white ribbion meant.

He handed it to her. "This is for you, of course."

"Will, this is too much." she insisted.

"It's not." he said. "Open it."

Anne untied the ribbon and opened her present. Inside she found a silver Tiffany's charm bracelet.

"Oh my God..." she said. "I- I don't know what to say."

"Say you love it!" he laughed.

"I love it! Thank you!"

Will swept her up into a hug and lifted her off the ground. Anne laughed. She should've known Will would do something like this. He always went above and beyond for her. In the beginning it made her feel uncomfortable, but she was starting to get used to it. He never disappointed. Everything he did or said was right on the mark.

Anne was so swept away by her surprise that she didn't notice that there was another person standing outside her doorway staring at the scene. A modest bouquet of sunflowers in one hand and a small box of coconut chocolates in the other, the figure managed to escape before Anne looked his way. In his rush to leave, he dropped a flower outside her door.

* * *

"I still don't get it."

"That's because you're not studying. Studying helps, Lisa. You'd be surprised."

Lisa rolled her eyes at Ben's criticism. It was probably the fiftieth he'd dished out that day. Following her embarrassing party fiasco and low grades from last semester, Lisa wasn't sure if life could get much worse. Now that her parents had forced Lisa to deactivate her sorority, Ben somehow convinced her to dedicate the excess energy and time to school work. At this particular moment, however, Lisa was wondering whether Ben's help was more pain than profit.

"I'm doing fine." She pointed out to him, shoving her B- paper in his face. "Look!"

"Fine is fine." Ben said, swinging his book bag over his shoulder. "But you could do so much better. Do you even know how smart you are?"

"Sure I do." She countered.

"I don't think you do." Ben said. "If you did, you wouldn't be settling for mediocre like other people. I just spent the last five hours studying with you and trust me when I say, there's no reason that a girl who can put forth such an eloquent argument in person should be getting a grade like that just because she was too lazy to write the full ten pages of her paper!"

Lisa power walked desperately to keep up with Ben's long strides out of the library. Suddenly she regretted the decision she'd made that morning to wear heels.

"Wait up!" she said, getting frustrated. "You can't just criticize a girl and walk away. You have to let me defend myself."

Ben stopped and turned to her. He raised his eyebrows and motioned for her to state her case. "O.K. Let's hear it."

"Uh…" she said. Her mind was blanking.

"That's what I thought." He continued to walk away.

Lisa gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to rebut. She knew that Ben was trying to help her regain academic footing. Still, that fact didn't stop the frustration boiling inside her.

To let off some steam she decided to walk around campus and take in the spring afternoon. She walked by the dorms and gardens then looped around to the pond. From a distance she could see someone on the water's edge throwing stones into the water. Her curiosity propelled her forward.

It was Rick. More importantly, it was Rick doing very un-Rick things. The usual picture of honor and silent confidence, Rick Wentworth, was now muttering under his breath. His tie loosened and hair messy, he continued to pelt rocks aimlessly into the water. He didn't seem to notice Lisa's presence right away.

She cleared her throat awkwardly and finally captured his attention. Rick dropped the rock he was holding and straightened up.

"Hey." She said timidly.

"Hi."

"So…" she said. "You seem…angry?"

Rick shrugged. "I guess you can say I haven't been having a good day."

"Oh…I see." She said. "Well, I haven't either. For the past five hours Ben's been pestering me about American Foreign Policy."

"That sounds like him." He smirked. Though engaged in conversation, Lisa noticed that Rick still seemed a bit displaced.

Lisa felt pretty uncomfortable. She and Rick never had closure about their 'almost thing.' Looking back now, she found the whole situation pretty ridiculous. She knew that Rick never liked her. Not really. To tell the truth, she never really cared for him either. That's the thing about girls like Lisa. People sometimes forget that self-esteem isn't always an automatic attribute for the young and beautiful. Attention was her weakness and always had been. Now that she was standing there staring at Rick, she felt sorry for the insincerity of it all. She could only be grateful that noting happened.

Lisa stepped closer and spotted a sad-looking pile of sunflowers at his feet. "Oh!" she said. "What happened to those?"

"Uh…" Rick stuttered. "I found them?"

"Oh ok." Lisa said. "Too bad. I bet Anne would've liked them today. Those are her favorite flowers, you know."

"Too bad." Rick said quietly. "But I'm sure she's having a great birthday anyway."

Lisa laughed. "Oh yeah. I let Will in this morning so he could decorate our dorm before she came home. Isn't that so cute? Oh wait, do you know Anne's boyfriend, Will Eaton?"

"I've heard of him." Rick said tartly. "but I didn't know Anne was dating anyone seriously right now."

Lisa picked up a stone and skipped it along the surface of the pond. "Yup. She's really happy. It's kind of nice, too. I mean, it's about time Anne had some fun. She deserves it."

Rick nodded and gave Lisa a half-hearted smile. "She really does."

There was a long silence which Lisa took as her cue to leave Rick in privacy again. As she was turning away, she heard him say something.

"Hey Lisa!" he stepped toward her, something clearly on his mind.

"Yeah?"

"I, uh…I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for-"

She shook her head and signaled for him to stop it. She knew exactly what he was going to say. "Rick, there's really no need."

"But I should've-"

"Don't worry about it." She assured him. "Neither one of us really meant to...you know."

"I know." he agreed. "But I'm still sorry."

Lisa sighed. "You're a good guy, Rick."

"Thanks."

Lisa left the scene feeling more relieved than she had in a long time. Rick however, couldn't say the same thing. No matter how many rocks he threw or bouquets he stepped on, it didn't change this feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was the feeling that came when he watched Anne with another guy. She looked happy. She looked beautiful.

Even with all the pain, Rick had one small bit of comfort he took away. He might not have been _the_ guy that day. He might not have been the boyfriend that went over the top or bought jewelry. Still, in the end he was the guy who knew her favorite flower. After all, Rick was the one who had helped Anne Elliot put up sunflower wall paper in her bedroom their freshman year because she adored the way they shone in the sunlight.

It might've been small, but it meant something to him.


	21. Chapter 21 : Chemistry

Anne was in limbo between her dream world and semi-consciousness. Her eyes flickered open and attempted to adjust to the morning light of her dorm. Unfortunately, she found that they were so weighed down by fatigue that the action stung.

_"You're impossible!"_

_"No, I'm stubborn. And I'm right!"_

Anne groaned and wondered whether she was hallucinating loud, bickering voices above her head.

"See! Now, you've woken up Anne!" Even in her drowsy state, Anne could recognize Ben's voice.

"I didn't wake her up!" Lisa's southern accent bounced off the walls. "You're the one being _LOUD_!"

Anne sat up in bed. She'd fallen asleep in her clothes from yesterday. Thick textbooks were scattered open over her sheets and her sneakers were still on her feet. Anne tended to wake up in these classy positions after long nights of cramming.

"Oh Anne." Lisa said sympathetically, her attention shifting from her fight with Ben to her awakened roommate. "You look so tired. Sorry that Ben came into our room so early and disrupted your much need rest. He can be _very_ rude sometimes."

Ben rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry about it." Anne said between yawns. "I needed to wake up anyway. What time is it?"

"Ten." Ben answered. "When did you fall asleep?"

"About three hours ago."

"Go back to bed!" he cried.

Anne shook her head. "I have a big test in two hours."

"You're nuts..." Lisa said in awe.

Ben folded his arms and looked at Lisa. "See, this is the kind of dedication you should be putting into your school work."

Anne chuckled and started to get ready for class, attempting to ignore her friends' constant squabbling as she did so. Her body was moving slower than usual, but that was to be expected after so little sleep. She'd have to find a way to pump some caffeine in her system before the exam.

"I'm assuming you're off to the library, then?" Ben asked Anne a few minutes later.

"You assume correctly." Anne said, stuffing papers into her tote bag. "I have a few more things to review."

"We'll see you tonight at Will's party, right?" Ben asked.

Lisa raised her eyebrow at him. "_You're_ going to that?" she asked Ben incredulously.

"Oh God! That completely slipped my mind. Thanks for reminding me, guys." With her studies invading her life, Anne had forgotten all about the party her boyfriend and his roommates were hosting that night. She quickly wrote a reminder on her hand before dashing out the door.

Once Anne left, Lisa turned to Ben with her hands on her hips. She had that look in her eye – a look Ben had become all too familiar with these past few weeks.

"What?" he asked defensively. He moved over to her desk to sift through some papers, but he noticed her still staring at him.

"Nothing." she said. "I guess I'm just wondering why you're here...in my room...at 10 a.m."

"Hello? Where have you been for the past few weeks?" he said. "I'm tutoring you! Remember?"

"There's a difference between tutoring and stalking." she pointed out.

Ben looked amused. "You think I enjoy spending time with someone who single-handedly drains all the energy and optimism from my body?"

"Are you going to the party tonight?" she challenged, eye brow raised.

"Yes."

"I rest my case."

"You think I'm going because you're going? I'm going because I was invited." he said. "I have no ulterior motives."

"Really?" Lisa asked. "Because last time I checked you weren't the party-hard-keg-stand-guy, Ben. In fact, you're kind of a geek."

"And you're kind of self-centered!" Ben cried. "Did it ever occur to you that there might be other things on my mind right now than your social calendar? That I might just want to go out and have fun for once and take a break from all of this academic torture you've forced me through? Just because you're confident and beautiful, it doesn't mean everything's about you!"

She smiled. "You think I'm beautiful?"

Ben coughed nervously. "I didn't say that!"

"Yes you did."

"No I didn't! I can't stand you! I think you're selfish, conceited, and lazy!" he insisted. "You drive me nuts on a regular basis. If you could channel all or your intelligence to class instead of teasing me incessantly, you'd make the Deans List every semester."

Suddenly, Lisa looked very touched. "You think I'm smart?" she asked, stepping closer to Ben.

"No...I mean that's not...well..." Ben was exasperated. "The point is, I wasn't going to ask you to the party."

"What a shame." Lisa said twirling her hair.

"Why is that?"

"Because I was going to ask you."

"You were – what?" Ben asked, stunned into silence.

Lisa giggled. "Oh come on, Ben. We have chemistry."

"_Chemistry_?" Ben asked bewildered. As a literary snob Ben knew little about chemistry. As a male, he knew even less about romantic chemistry.

"You know..." Lisa pointed back and forth between the two of them. "This stuff. The arguing...the banter..."

"But...we hate each other!" Ben cried.

Lisa sighed. Ben might've been intelligent, but at present it was acting quite dumb. "That's what you think. Here's your homework assignment for this afternoon, Ben: stop reading sentimental poetry for a few days and let the beautiful, dysfunctional reality of our situation set in. I have to go to class now," she said glancing down at her watch. "Too bad...we were making progress."

She picked up her books, strode over to a stunned Ben, and stooped down for an innocent kiss on the cheek. His ears turned pink.

"Oh, and you can pick me up at 10 tonight!" she said on her way out the door.


	22. Chapter 22 : The Article

"Anne...Anne? Hello?"

Anne blinked twice and was shaken from her zombie-like state. "What?" she asked blindly.

At present, she was sitting calmly on a park bench in the library courtyard. She'd stopped to sit and bask in the warm spring rays following her mind-draining test. After a few minutes of blissful nothingness she'd been snapped back to reality by a towering male.

"You look...dead." he said, sitting down next to her. Anne, with her delayed deductive skills, just noticed that this person was Rick Wentworth.

"I feel dead." Her eyes shifted enviously to the cup in Rick's hand. "Is that coffee?" she asked.

Anne must've looked desperate, because Rick handed the cup over instantly. "Here," he said. "You need this more than I do."

"Thank God!" Anne said, taking a swig.

Rick laughed. "You had that politics test today, right?"

She nodded. "How did you know that?"

"I remember things." he said simply.

Anne smiled, starting to feel normal again. "I think it went well. Still, you never know."

Rick gave her a knowing look. "Come on, Anne. You aced it. Don't underestimate yourself."

"I try not to." She took another sip.

"I bet your boyfriend could help you a lot with politics." Rick said casually. He didn't want to make it too obvious that he was curious about Will.

Anne looked over at him. "Um, I guess." she said. "Will's really smart, but I prefer to do things on my own."

"I know."

"I have something to prove here, you know?" Anne said softly.

"I know." he said again.

"You do?" she asked, turning to him.

"Sure." Rick said. "You're trying to prove you belong here, not just your last name. I can relate."

She smiled. "Of course you can." It was moments like these that made Anne forget she and Rick ever stopped being friends.

Rick opened the newspaper he was holding and started to read. Anne continued to drink her coffee and people watch. Sometimes doing absolutely nothing was such a blessing. After a while, Anne's eyes floated leisurely over to Rick's newspaper. She scooted closer to him. Rick tried to hide his smile. Anne always read over people's shoulders.

"What...?" she asked squinting her eyes at a story on page six. Without realizing what she was doing, she grabbed the page from Rick to get a closer look.

"What is it?" he asked her.

Anne put down her coffee cup and clenched the paper with both hands. Rick watched as she frantically skimmed the text.

"Is everything alright?" Rick asked curiously.

"I-I think so. I..." Anne folded the story and placed the page in her pocket, handing the rest of the paper back to Rick. "I have to go." she said simply.

Anne gathered up her belongings and left a bewildered Rick alone on the bench. She had an unexpected, pressing matter on her hands.

* * *

Anne had never been inside Will's house before. It was far cleaner than one would expect out of six college males. The furniture matched and the floor was clear. There were even coasters on the coffee table.

One of Will's housemates let Anne in without question and seemed to know who she was. He showed her to the living room and told her to wait and make herself at home. She'd been sitting there for about thirty minutes now, hoping Will would come home. Anne spent most of that time taking in her surroundings and rereading the newspaper article in her hand. She had a quite a few questions.

The front door opened again and her boyfriend walked in, looking perfect and put-together as usual. He spotted her after he walked in and smiled. Will walked over to Anne and greeted her with a kiss. He didn't seem to notice that she was tense.

"What a surprise." he said happily. "I thought I wasn't going to see you until tonight, but I'm glad you came. Do you want to grab a late lunch or something?"

"Will-" she started.

"We might need to clear out of here soon. I think the guys want to start setting up, but we could split."

"Will." she said again. "I need to talk to you."

He stopped and sat down next to her on the couch. "Sure. Let's talk." he said seriously. "Is something wrong?"

Anne didn't know where to start. She couldn't quite put the words together. "I, uh...found this in the Times today." she handed him the folded paper in her palm.

Will took the paper and read the article. His eyes also fell on the picture next to it.

"That's our..."

"Fathers." Anne finished for him.

It was an effective photograph indeed. The two men in tuxes were grasping hands civilly, smiling for the cameras. The caption under the photo read '_Elliot fundraiser a success for New York Senator.'_

"Yeah." Will said slowly.

"Just tell me you didn't know about this." Anne said softly, looking him in the eye. "Just tell me that this is a big coincidence and I'll believe you."

Will stared back at her for a while. Anne's look was pleading. "I didn't know, Anne." he finally said.

She nodded, feeling a bit relieved. "O.K." She let out a heavy breath and put the article back in her pocket. "Thank you." she said sincerely.

"No problem." Will said. "You seem tired, Anne."

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty beat. I just came from a test."

"Why don't you take a nap before tonight?" Will suggested.

"Yeah." Anne said. "You're right. Sorry for coming all the way over here. It was silly of me..."

"No it wasn't." Will assured her. "You're welcome here any time."

Anne smiled. "I guess I'll be going now."

Will walked her to the door and gave her a hug. Anne felt as though her head was reeling from all the possibilities that had run through her head after reading that article. Her father had made friends with politicians before...if you could even call it that. It always seemed to be more of an investment than a friendship. Still, Anne never thought her personal life might spark a merger. Even the idea of it made her sick.

"Have a good rest, alright? I'll see you later." Will said, squeezing her arm.

Anne departed with an optimistic smile. All she wanted to think about now was collapsing on her bed and closing her eyes.


	23. Chapter 23: A Politician Revealed

If there was such thing as a classy college party, Will Eaton's came pretty close. The music was at a tolerable volume and crowd control was tight. The beer even had a taste. Most of the guys invited looked like Gap ads and their dates matched them to boot.

Rick Wentworth, who was casually leaning against the wall of the living room, didn't really know why he was here. Honestly, this was the last place he thought he'd be this Friday night. After he overheard someone in his class talk about a party at Will Eaton's house, he initially dismissed the news, but hours later found that his feet were leading him to the door. Looking around now at the preppy display before him, he started to question his impulses.

"Wentworth!" he heard someone call out his name. He looked up and saw Ben and Lisa heading in his direction.

"Fancy seeing you here!" Lisa said. "Ben just picked me up. We came here together." she smiled widely.

"No we didn't!" Ben corrected her, looking uncomfortable. "I merely walked with you. It was a matter of convenience."

"Sure..." Lisa cooed.

Ben chose to ignore her. "So, did Anne invite you?"

"Uh..." Rick started. "Yes. Yes she did. By the way, have you seen her? I really need to talk with her."

"She was sleeping when I left." Lisa said. "But she said she'd be coming over later."

Rick nodded. "O.K."

"Let's dance, Ben!" Lisa said brightly when an upbeat song came up.

"No! I don't dance." he said.

"Great! Me neither. We can look stupid together!" she cried, taking his hand and leading him to the floor.

Rick watched as she dragged his protesting roommate away. Ben's face looked pained, but Rick could've sworn that he saw him smile once they started dancing.

"Hi. Do I know you?"

Rick turned around and came face to face with the man himself: William Eaton III Strangely, Rick's first instinct was to laugh. He'd seen this guy before, but that was only a quick glance while he was hugging Anne on her birthday. Upon closer observance, Will was smaller than he expected. Rick couldn't quite put his finger on it. He and Anne used to make fun of guys like him when they were in high school. Anne used to joke that if Rick didn't offer to take her to formal functions, she'd be forced to go with 'one of those guys.' Will was definitely 'one of those guys.' You know, the guy that looks like he pops his collar or plays polo. Rick almost admired the irony of it all; now Will was the one with Anne and Rick was standing dateless in a crowd of strangers.

"No." Rick answered. "Rick Wentworth." He extended his hand and shook Will's with a slightly stronger grip than usual.

"Will Eaton."

"I'm, uh...Anne's friend." Rick explained lamely.

"Oh." Will said smiling. "Nice to meet you."

Rick wished he could say the same thing, but he couldn't bring himself to lie.

"By the way, have you seen Anne?" Will asked, surveying the room.

"Nope." Rick answered. "I was looking for her myself."

Will gave Rick a suspicious side glance. "Are you a freshmen?" he asked.

Rick straightened up to his full height. "Yes. And you're a junior, right?"

"Yeah." Will said. "I'm actually the Student Body President."

Rick resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Sorry, I guess I didn't know." he lied.

Rick was about to leave the awkward conversation, but his attention was taken by a new person in the room.

He looked up at the door and saw Anne walk in. Obviously, this was one of the rare occasions when Anne put extra effort into her appearance. She'd curled her long dark hair into soft ringlets and put some make-up on. She was wearing a casual red dress and black flats. It always surprised Rick how, even when Anne Elliot looked stunningly beautiful, she always entered a room in the same humble way: one foot gingerly at a time, head tilted down, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Anne!" Will called out, striding over to her. "Where have you been?"

Rick was paralyzed. He couldn't take his eyes off her. He could only watch from a distance as Will took his hand in hers.

"Sleeping." Rick heard Anne reply. "I guess I was more tired than I thought."

"Well, you're here now." Will said warmly. "and you look beautiful."

Anne adjusted her dress self consciously. "I feel like a doll. People are staring."

"Because you're stunning, Anne."

She blushed. "What were you doing before I got here?" she asked.

Will shrugged. "Just talking to some random guy. Nothing too important."

Rick couldn't listen to anymore of this. He had to admit, this guy knew what he was doing. Rick took a few steps away from the happy couple. He was starting to wonder why coming here had been such a good idea. Clearly, he was in for a night of undiluted torture. From the corner of his eye he saw them step into a nearby room for privacy.

* * *

"I have something for you." Will said as he closed the door behind them.

Anne sighed and smiled. "You keep giving me things."

"I like giving you things, Anne." he said. "Now close your eyes."

Anne did as she was told. She felt Will's long fingers tuck something behind her ear. When she opened her eyes she saw a red rose next to her dark curls.

"A rose for a rose." Will said, kissing her on the cheek.

"Thank you." Anne said. Anne was never one to complain when a man gave her flowers- not that it happened very often – but Will's constant need to show his affection felt odd. She couldn't explain it.

"Is something wrong?" Will asked, reading her face.

"No." Anne said, shaking the feeling. "I'm just being silly. The rose is beautiful."

She stood on her tip toes and gave Will a short peck on the lips. Will responded with more enthusiasm and extended embrace. Anne grinned underneath his lips.

"Feel better?" he asked playfully.

"I think so."

Will bent down for another kiss, both his hands on the small of her back, pushing her closer in. He must've led her to the wall because after they broke apart Anne felt a picture frame against the back of her head.

Will looked into her eyes. "You know, on Wednesday I saw the perfect little antique book shop in Soho. I thought of you. I want to take you there."

"Really?" Anne grinned. "What was it called?"

"The Nook." he said.

Anne stopped smiling. "I've uh...been there before."

"You didn't like it?" he guessed.

"No." Anne said. "I just used to go there a lot with, um an old friend."

"An old friend?" Will raised his eyebrow. "I see."

"It's nothing." Anne said, laughing off her momentary mood. The last thing she wanted to think about was Rick Wentworth and the justified dislike he harbored for her. As if in attempt to sweep the thought from her mind, she kissed Will again and he kissed back eagerly. In fact, he was kissing very eagerly. It was almost startling. His hands started to roam to places they've never been before. Then, something hit Anne.

"Wait," she said after fighting to break away from his kiss. "You were in New York two days ago?"

Will's faltered for one moment and betrayed his true reaction to Anne's discovery. A split second of what looked like panic and discomfort was on his face before he dismissed it calmly and casually.

"I meant last Thursday, Anne." he said, leaning in again.

Anne turned her head. "Thursday? You said Wednesday before."

Will cleared his throat. "I guess I misspoke."

"Will..." she said slowly, trying to detract the truth from his eyes. "Our fathers' fundraiser was this past Wednesday."

"Anne, let's not talk about our fathers now." he joked, stroking her cheek. "It's ruining the moment."

Will's hands were around her cheeks and brought her face in for another kiss. Anne wasn't ready for this. She made protesting noises underneath his mouth. This was about the last thing she felt like doing now.

"Stop – " she managed to get out, as she turned her lips to the side. She attempted to get away, but noticed that his body was trapping hers against the wall.

Will continued to kiss her neck. His hands traveled down and rested on her hips while Anne's were against Will's chest trying to push him off.

"We need to talk about this. Stop it NOW! I'm serious Will!" Anne raised her voice.

"Anne, I love you." Will whispered.

For a second she almost believed him. For a second, looking into William Eaton's eyes she almost forgot about the fund raiser, the politics, and the lies. She almost forgot about the sickening feeling in her gut. She almost forgot about the bookstore in Soho.

Almost.

In her moment of weakness she'd looked in Will's eyes, but as she did so she didn't notice his right hand. Will's right hand had just gone to a place no other person's hand had ever touched.

A girly scream is a funny thing. Most girls think they don't have it. Maybe they're too strong or independent to possess such a helpless, ear-splitting noise. Yet, despite this admirable sense of feminism, the girly scream often escapes from the lips of even the most self-determined females if the right moment comes along.

This was one of those moments.

Anne Elliot screamed and tried to kick Will. She was planning on shoving him, stepping on his foot...anything to make it stop.

It turns out she didn't have to.

A fist came hurling through the air like a bullet towards Will's face and a sickening crunch followed.


	24. Chapter 24 : Come and get me, Mr Prez

"Oh my God."

"Anne, are you OK?"

"Oh my God!"

"Is that all you can say?" Rick asked desperately.

"I think you killed him!" she cried out frantically.

This, of course, wasn't true at all. Anne Elliot had never seen such displays of violence in person and was usually the type of girl who closed her eyes during the gross parts of movies. Never, in her whole sheltered life on the Upper East Side, had she seen that much blood come out of someone's body.

"Do you even care?" Rick asked exasperatingly. He was still towering over Will, who was crumpled at his feet, holding his nose and moaning pathetically. By the gurgling noises, Anne could tell he was attempting to say something, but wasn't coughing the words up. The door to the room was still swinging. Anne assumed Rick had kicked it open at the sound of her scream. She must've been too preoccupied with her situation to notice him bounding forward, fists clenched toward her overly friendly boyfriend.

"I- I…" Anne was giving Rick's question some serious thought. Did she care? I mean, really?

Another load moan emitted from her boyfriend and she instinctively bent down to examine his face. His nose was definitely broken.

"Anne," Rick asked calmly, kneeling down at her level. "I'm going to ask you again: are you alright?"

She looked up and locked eyes with him. They brimmed as she self-consciously adjusted her frazzled skirt and looked away again. There was a shaky feeling in the back of her throat; a feeling that reminded her of scraped needs and playground falls. She honestly had no idea what to say to him. Looking at Rick, she was overwhelmed with this odd mixture of shame and comfort.

"I think so." She nodded, still trying to avoid eye contact.

At that moment, two of Will's roommates appeared at the door.

"What the hell…?" one asked, seeing all the blood.

Will sat up suddenly and Anne gasped. "This freshman barged in on us and punched me in the face!" he cried, managing to find his voice at last.

In response, the two lunged on Rick quickly, pushing him against the wall. Rick's hands were up in the air, clearly avoiding another fight.

"Hey! Hey! Calm down, alright." He said, trying to be rational. "Maybe you should ask Anne what Will was doing exactly before you kick my ass."

Anne suddenly felt many pairs of eyes pierce her at once. At that point, more people had appeared, all of them staring at her. From the corner of her eye she spotted Ben and Lisa peering in through the now crowded door frame. Lisa's eye brows were raised in her direction.

"I- uh…I…" she attempted to speak again with pitiful results.

But that was the last thing Anne Elliot wanted to do. Anne Elliot, who barely told her diary her most scandalous thoughts and actions, wasn't about to tell a dozen strangers where Will had his hand only moments before. Times like this were not meant for eloquence.

"I..I, well…" she stuttered helplessly, her face turning beet red to match her dress. She felt like she might burst into tears at any moment.

Rick, still pined to the wall by the over-sized seniors, looked concerned.

"This punk decided to kick open the door and take a swing at me while I was with_ my own _girlfriend in _my own_ home!" Will said heatedly, impatient for Anne's explanation.

Rick's calm exterior dissolved that this statement and he pushed against the bodies holding him back. "Are you crazy?" he yelled. "I don't care if she's your wife, girlfriend, or a stranger. When a girl says no, you stop!"

"This isn't any of your business!" Will called out from the ground.

"Well, from her screams it didn't sound like she was enjoying it!" he retorted.

Anne closed her eyes and wished she could be somewhere else – anywhere else. She wanted to blend into the wall paper. She wanted to be eight years old again playing the invisible game, back to the wall with her mother walking by again.

Will tried to get up, his right hand still holding his bloody nose as if it were going to fall off. "Go to hell, Wentworth!"

"Come and get me, Mr. President!" Rick cried.

Will was breathing hard. His wrinkle-free polo was now stained with red streaks. He took his hand away and straightened up. The room was silent. No one said a word. Rick may've been stronger, taller, and more powerful, but one had to admit that William Eaton commanded the spaces he entered. His presence demanded recognition. Even standing there with a bruised face and crimson shirt, he was powerful. Everyone sensed it.

An odd smile crept onto his face and Anne held her breath. A part of her – the part that was raised by a similar father, the part that witnessed countless powerful men interact throughout the years, the part that was cynical and far too realistic- knew exactly what he was about to say.

"Rick." He said in an eerily casual tone. "What do you think would happen to that scholarship of yours if word of this event reached a superior? "

Anne saw Rick suck in all the air around him. He looked positively ill, but was trying desperately to hide it.

"What if…" Will continued, obviously relishing in his power. "What if, the Student Body President personally informed him of this?"

"No!"

The confident exclamation emitted from her mouth before she even realized it was her voice. Anne watched once again as everyone's eyes fell on her. Will whipped around to look her in the eye.

"What?" he asked, bewildered at her out of character confrontation.

"You're not going to do that, Will." she said stepping forward.

"And why's that?"

She looked at him hard, hoping to find some evidence of the person she thought he was. His features, still handsome and classic, were blurred by the skill of Rick's knuckles. She searched for the ease and the charm that won her over in the coffee shop.

"Why's that?" he asked again after she didn't say anything.

"Because I'm asking you to." She said simply. "And deep down I think you might be a good guy."

Will faltered and his face softened. He obviously hadn't been expecting that answer.

From across the room, Rick's reaction was unnoticed by Anne. He stared at her disbelievingly. What was she doing? What the hell was she doing?

There was an awkward moment of silence in which Will stared at Anne and everyone stared at him. Rick's eyes were narrowing, Lisa's jaw was dropping, and a clueless Ben was furrowing his brow in confusion.

"Let him go." Will finally said to his roommates.

Everyone in the room seemed to exhale at that moment. People started moving again and the low buzz of talk returned. Ben leaned over to Lisa and whispered in her ear: "What the hell was that about?"

Lisa rolled her eyes. "You pretend to be all smart Ben, but you're really just a boy."

He shrugged helplessly.

On the other side of the room, Rick shook off the upperclassmen's grip and attempted to exit the scene as quickly as possible. As she surveyed the room, Anne saw him leaving, and instinctually followed. Before she got away, however, a hand gently pressed against her arm.

"Don't touch me!" she yelped louder than intended. Will's touch triggered discomfort in her so easily now.

"Anne wait." he said. There was genuine shame in his eyes. "I'm really sorry about this. I- I…please stay and talk to me."

A tiny part of Anne has always wondered what would've happened if she had stayed that night and talked to Will Eaton. Would she have been happier in the end? Would she have found closure with the night's events? For the most part, Anne Elliot felt just fine not knowing the answers to those questions.

"You were at the fundraiser on Wednesday, weren't you Will?"

"Anne, I-"

"Just answer the question." She said determinedly.

Will sighed and looked down. That was all she needed to know.

"I'm leaving now." She said simply, striding past him toward the door.


	25. Chapter 25: Hate

_Sixteen-year-old Rick rushed off the subway and maneuvered through the crowds to the sidewalk above. He had no idea what he was doing or why. He wasn't prepared at all; he had no game plan. In all honestly, his feet had taken over for his brain about an hour ago. It was all very out of character for the predictable and structured Rick Wentworth._

_It was a very odd epiphany he'd just had. He was doing his calculus homework at the kitchen table when it hit him. Usually solving derivatives didn't amount to so much personal insight, but there's a first time for everything. His mother had been cooking dinner and chatting with him. He half listened as he copied his equations down._

_"Maybe you should say good-bye to her." He heard her say between the problems in his head._

_Rick rolled his eyes. He knew exactly what she was referring to. Most likely his mother had heard the loud bickering over the phone just a few minutes before. Anne and Rick had gone through several rounds of verbal sparring, but she was unmoving. Despite his final efforts to persuade her otherwise, she seemed completely controlled by her Aunt Grace and father. She would leave in plane later that night for boarding school. Rick had bitterly given up and was now satisfied to mask his disappointment with fresh anger. Besides, was it really his responsibility to bend over backwards time and time again for Anne Elliot?_

_"Oh, you mean Anne Elliot?" He commented off hand. "The only human being I know who can survive nicely without a backbone?"_

_His mother sighed. "You know what I meant, Fredrick." She warned. "And just so you know, that's not very nice. I know you don't mean that."_

_He winced. He absolutely hated the sound of his full name._

_"She's off to Missouri, right? For boarding school?"_

_"Maine." He corrected, pressing so hard down with his pencil the he punctured a hole in his homework. "And I don't want to talk about it."_

_He might not have wanted to discuss the matter, but he sure as hell couldn't stop thinking about it. Life without Anne….he hadn't experienced that since early elementary school. He couldn't really wrap his mind around the concept. In the end he didn't know who he was angrier at- Anne for leaving him or himself for being so dependent on her._

_What was so special about Anne Elliot anyway? I mean, really. She wasn't the most interesting person in the world. In fact, she was pretty nerdy and unrealistic. Anne was far from spontaneous, usually preferring watching a movie or reading to social gatherings. She obsessed over the oddest things like the color of her post-its or her favorite brand of peanut butter. She wasn't even all that pretty, he thought. To be honest, he never cared too much about the way she looked. He'd never given it extensive thought before._

_He pulled out a fresh piece of paper and laid it on the table. Pencil propped, he was more than ready to tackle another set of numbers. The exhaled calmly. Math always had answers._

_That's when he froze._

_"Rick?" Mrs. Wentworth asked slowly to her son after a few minutes of silence. She approached him and put a maternal hand over his forehead. "Are you OK? You look…pale."_

_Rick stared at the blank sheet in front of him, not moving or responding._

_"Uh…sweetie?"_

_What a time to have an epiphany._

_Rick stood up so fast, he almost knocked his own mother over. "Sorry, Mom!" he cried, grabbing her and kissing her on the cheek. "I have to – I have to do something. Yeah!"_

_Before Mrs. Wentworth could respond, her son was out the door._

_He flew down the stairs of his apartment building with new energy pulsing through his body. The heart of the matter was this: Anne couldn't be ordinary no matter how much he wanted her to be. It would've been so easy to walk away from her if she was. He knew she wasn't the girl that turned heads. She wasn't the girl that raised her hand. She wasn't the girl that flirted, winked, or giggled. But she was his. It had only taken him a few years and a math problem to figure it out._

* * *

Anne didn't grasp the fact that it was raining until she noticed her clothes were getting heavier and her hair was sticking to her face. Funny how these life details fly out the window when determination sets in.

After leaving a shocked Will alone in that room, waving off a concerned Lisa and Ben, and kicking her shoes off, Anne had sprinted from that party and down the street toward home. She wasn't running to get home, though. She was running to find him.

The rain drops were large and fast, pelting down on her harshly as she took long strides. Through the haze of falling water she made out a silhouette in the distance. It was tall, upright, and familiar.

It was Rick.

"Rick!" she called out through the loud beating of the rain.

She came closer and saw him turn around slowly for a moment.

He saw her and decided to keep walking.

"Rick!" she practically screamed. "Stop!"

She ran up to him and jumped in front of his path, arms outstretched as if to prevent him from going further.

"What do you want, Anne?" he asked desperately.

That was a very good question. Anne didn't quite know how to answer it. She was standing there barefoot and panting from her run, her dark dress drenched and sticking to her.

"I just…I guess I wanted to thank you."

"You're welcome." he said impatiently."Is that all?"

"Why did you leave? What's wrong?" she asked lamely. After running all that way, it was such an anticlimactic thing to spit out, but it was all she had.

Rick shook his head in frustration, nonsensically wiping the droplets from his face only to have them replaced with new ones. "What's wrong?" he repeated. "Seriously? What do you think is wrong? Tonight I watched some jack ass borderline abuse my …my…and I break his nose and this is what I get from you? A heartfelt display of your faith in his character! What did you do, slap him on the wrist, kiss him on the cheek and run after me? Anne, what he did to you was NOT OK. It was not-"

"_You think I don't know that?_" she asked, shocked. Her tears were mixing with the rain on her cheeks. "How could I not know that?"

"Well you forgave your boyfriend pretty easily, didn't you? He is still your boyfriend, isn't he?" Rick challenged.

Anne hesitated. She thought she ended it. _Hadn't she?_

Rick interpreted the silence and rolled his eyes, maneuvering around her to go home.

"What's wrong with having a bit of faith in other people?" Anne insisted after him.

Rick stopped and took the bait. He turned around and said. "Anne, there's a difference between having faith and being a doormat."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh come on!" he cried, throwing his hands in the air, half laughing. "Look at the way your family treats you. Look at the way Will treats you. You like to please people, Anne. Sooner or later you need to stand up for yourself. You just let people walk all over you!"

"I do not!" she cried, though she knew it was a hopeless defense. "I can take care of myself just fine thank you very much. I don't need-"

"What, like tonight?"

Anne held breath and looked up at him. He was close enough to touch.

"_Why are you here?"_ she suddenly burst out. "Why are you here? I was getting along just fine before you. Things were going just fine. I had just stopped thinking about you! Then you show up here where I go to school and you're just …here, not talking to me, stoic and pretending I don't exist, and then you almost date my roommate… "

"Lisa and I never-

"And here you are turning your best friend switch back on, telling me I'm a doormat and punching people left and right…"

"ANNE ELLIOT!" his voice boomed into the rain.

She stopped talking instantly. In her experience, Rick only every used her full name when he was either elated or extremely frustrated. She was willing to bet it was the later.

"Seriously?!" he asked, his voice almost on the brink of hysterics. "Why won't you just let me hate you?"

Anne blinked. There was an odd pause in their exchange as she attempted to process that statement. "Excuse me?" she asked.

Rick ran his hands through his soaking hair in frustration. "Don't you get it? All I want to do is hate you! You left me, remember? You left me! I didn't ask to be at your school- it just happened, ok? I've spent the past two years of my life hating you and now that I'm here I can't keep it up! I'm standing in the rain arguing with a girl who broke my heart and I can't even hate you! _What are you doing to me?"_

Anne's jaw dropped. Rain escaped into her mouth and she coughed awkwardly.

"Jesus, Anne!" Rick cried angrily. "I should loathe you. I shouldn't be punching your boyfriend and buying you flowers!"

"Wait, what?"

"I'm supposed to hate you!" he repeated. "That's how it works, Anne. You go away, and I hate you. Why can't you understand that? Why can't I just be normal and hate you?"

This was the most he'd said to her since they were sixteen. The how-are-you's and awkward small talk from the last few months had finally broken down under the weight of their emotional baggage. It had happened. There, in the rain, in setting that was far from picturesque, Rick Wentworth had finally released the marinating frustration and it was clear the Anne was both surprised and unprepared to hear it.

"Well, do you have anything to say?" he asked lamely.

Anne wiped her face pointlessly in the rain and crossed her arms, attempting to retain some sort of warmth in her body. She forced her gaze to leave her feet and meet his dark eyes.

"I'm sorry." She choked out.

Rick closed his eyes and shook his head. He didn't even have to say anything. Anne knew, reading his reaction. A sentence wasn't going to satisfy him.

Rick turned around and left while Anne watched him disappear into the blurred haze of rain. She didn't even try to stop him.


	26. Chapter 26 : In Which Anne Blubbers

"So…"

"So?"

Ben couldn't be more confused. He had been standing awkwardly in front of Lisa's door for a good thirty seconds watching her fiddle with her clutch purse and rock back and forth on her heels, looking expectantly up at him.

She finally rolled her eyes impatiently at his ignorance.

"Well?" she asked hopelessly.

"Well…what?"

"Seriously, Ben?!" she cried in frustration.

Ben stepped back, looking slightly alarmed. "What did I do now?"

She groaned. "Hello? You really don't know what happens next?"

"Um…no?" he said lamely

"You're useless, you know that?" she said, crossing her arms.

"I'm not following, Lisa."

"You'd think that a guy who has read as many of the Romantics could figure it out." She said with a hint of disappointment. In defeat, Lisa began to fish around in her bag for her keys. "It's funny too, because I thought I liked you, but I'm probably wrong. Maybe the doctors left some hallucinatory drug into my system when they pumped my stomach. "

Ben stepped forward. "Somehow I doubt that."

"And you know what?" she continued, ignoring him and trying to jam her keys in the hole. "I hate you. I don't know what I was thinking! I hate you because you're a pretentious know-it-all and you hate me because I'm a shallow, brand-wearing, southern belle."

"I don't hate you." Ben said almost regretfully as he stepping forward yet again.

Lisa, oblivious to his movements, pushed the door open to her dark room and continued to rant. "Just so you know…" she started in a vain attempt to retain the upper hand. " I've never heard of half the bands on your tee shirts, you're going to get a hole in your stomach from all the black coffee you consume, and on several occasions I've seen you mix neutrals like black and navy blue! Also, even though you rant about the triviality of contemporary children's novels, I've totally discovered where you hide your Harry Potter books in your room. Don't deny it! Geez - most of the time you think you're just so cute mysterious with that floppy Boy Meets World haircut and that charming little half smirk plastered over your face, but I've got news for you - "

Lisa dropped her purse on the floor as Ben grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her face towards his.

"Wait, what are you doing?" she cried.

Ben never answered and Lisa didn't seem to notice or care after a few seconds. Her lips had become quite occupied. She ran her hands through the hair that she'd been insulting just moments before. She smiled happily underneath Ben's kiss and leaned back against her door. She was already very comfortable with this feeling.

Then, Lisa heard a small sniffle coming from the darkness in her room. Taking a split second vacation from her picture perfect moment, she opened one eye and looked over Ben's shoulder. She could make out a familiar outline sitting on the bed.

"Oh my gosh! Anne!" she cried. She was so surprised she pushed Ben off of her, but he managed to recover gracefully.

"A-Anne." He stuttered, turning red and flipping on the light switch. "Uh- Hi."

Anne Elliot had been sitting pathetically on her bed in the dark, water still dripping from her hair and soaked dress. A trail to her bed was marked with small puddles of rain water. He mascara was smudged all over her face and her nose was red from crying. She was the personification of a broken heart.

Lisa bit her bottom lip and locked eyes with Ben. He seemed to understand.

"I should, uh, probably go." He concluded, shoving his hands in his pockets and backing out the door slowly.

Lisa watched him leave, then looked back at her roommate and sighed. "Looks like you need a towel, uh?"

Tears were still streaming down Anne's cheeks. She hadn't cried that much since she was thirteen and she showed no signs of stopping. Lisa wasn't quite sure what to do. Usually she could count on Anne Elliot to be the picture of stability and calm. Now she was sitting on her rain-soaked sheets blubbering inaudibly.

"Sorry for ruining your evening." Anne managed to choke out as she took the towel Lisa handed her.

"Don't worry about it. You've had a pretty crazy night from what I could tell. I tried to catch you before, but you ran off so fast after the party. " Lisa said, gently patting her on the back. "Is there something you want to talk about?"

As she continued on her quest to calm her very damp roommate, it suddenly occurred to Lisa that she and Anne never did…that thing. You know, the girly roommate paint your toenails- boy trash- gossip – deep dark secret – chick flick- chocolate thing. Both had gone through the better part of the year unfazed by this absence of bonding. It wasn't until that moment as she watched Anne groan into a stained towel with questions marks hovering over her head, that Lisa wished she had invested more time in Anne Elliot.

Anne looked up. "Honestly, I'm not sure you want to know. It's kind of a long story. A really long story, actually."

Lisa furrowed her brow. To her, Anne had always been pretty straightforward and simple. She said what was on her mind and was very direct. She never seemed too secretive or burdened. Lisa doubted that there was anything too shocking Anne had to share

"That's ok, sweetie." Lisa said nicely. "I like long stories. Go ahead."

Anne gulped. This was one story she'd never actually put to words before. It was difficult to pin point a starting point.

"I'm sort of in love." She started.

"Wow." Lisa said, surprised. She'd expected much worse than that. "Anne that's great. I mean, after tonight I have to admit I was unsure about him, but if you-"

"It's not Will." She corrected.

Lisa raised her eyebrows. "Oh. Really?" she asked, a large dose of curiosity filling her system.

"Yes." Anne said, twisting her hands around nervously on her lap. "He's an old crush of mine…an old friend actually. We were best friends growing up."

"Awww! That's too cute, Anne. I love stuff like that. I didn't know you-"

"I'm not done." She interrupted. "I am _so _not done."

"Ok…" Lisa said. "Continue."

Anne swallowed hard and kept going. "Well…you know how I went to boarding school my junior and senior year? I didn't really want to go at first. My dad and Aunt Grace were really pushing it on me and I didn't know how to say no. It was the school my mom went to, but I always suspected they were sending me away for another reason…"

"The boy?" Lisa suspected.

Anne nodded. "He was so mad at me and it killed me to leave. It really did, but I didn't know what to do. At that point, I'd probably been in love with him for years, I just refused to admit it. I knew he didn't see me that way…so you can imagine my surprise when he ran into my bedroom and kissed me right before I left!" she cried, wiping her face again

"You left anyway, then?"

"What else was I supposed to do? I thought he was just trying to get me to stay. I thought he might have figured out my secret or something. I didn't know what to think."

Lisa almost laughed and shook her head. "Anne Elliot, you really don't think much of yourself do you?"

"I guess not. He sort of…sort of told me I broke his heart tonight." She confessed. "I didn't even know I had the capacity to do that."

"I think we all do, sweetie." Lisa said wisely.

"Well," Anne continued. "He hates me now. It doesn't matter."

"He hates you?"

"He didn't even acknowledge my presence at the beginning of the year."

"Wait – he goes here?"

Anne continued cry, only half listening to Lisa. "You know this wouldn't be so hard if he wasn't so perfect and chivalrous all the time. I mean, he even has a uniform now…"

Lisa raised her eyebrow.

"One minute he's giving me coffee and the next he's punching people and calling me a doormat in a thunderstorm. Am I a doormat, Lisa?" she asked desperately

"Uh…"

"This whole year has just been so complicated and suppressed, I can't hold it in anymore-"

"Anne!" Lisa grabbed her roommate's shoulders to steady her emotional rant. "Are you…I mean to say, are you referring to…" She hesitated, trying to piece together the puzzle in her mind.

Then, it hit her. It made so much sense. She was the one girl who never looked at him twice. His glances, stuttering and uncomfortable moments suddenly fell into place. He was always starring at her. She was always looking at her feet. Move in day, the dance, all the regular moments that piled up in her mind added up to the same intricately concealed yet utterly obvious truth.

"Oh my God." Lisa said smiling widely. "You're in love with Rick Wentworth."

A fresh wave of blubbering tears sprung from Anne's eyes. She didn't even bother denying it any more. Denial might have been her gift, but she was tired of the burden. Even through her sobbing, there was an awesome, inexplicable sense of relief.

Someone finally knew.


	27. Chapter 27 : Rick's Welcome Wagon

There's something rejuvenating about spring break. It wets the appetite for summer and allows much needed relaxation before second semester exams. It's that much deserved breath of fresh air before the storm. At present, no one needed a healthy dose of spring break like Rick Wentworth did. If anyone needed to get away, it was him.

Rick juggled his duffel bag and sacks of dirty laundry as he made his way through the crowded bus station. The whole trip back to New York he was itching to get back to his own room, his own bed, and his old habits. Most likely his mom had some home cooked deliciousness waiting for him. Yes, he was absolutely determined to have a good vacation. He _needed_ a good vacation.

"Yoohoo! Ricky!!"

Rick whirled around and came face to face with a crowd of women with voluminous hair coming toward him with open arms.

"Oh my gosh!" he cried laughing. He dropped his bags on the floor and received the warm hug of the closest one, Ms. Mattey.

"Ricky, we missed you so much." She said, pinching his cheeks. These women, after watching Rick grow up sweeping the hair off the floor of his mother's salon, sometimes forgot he was nineteen years old and past the age of cheek pinching.

Rick blushed a deep crimson, but he didn't care too much. Behind the small crowd of women, he saw the face he missed the most. Mrs. Wentworth was standing there, arms crossed and smiling warmly at the affectionate display before her.

She chuckled. "Ladies, please give my son some room to you." She walked over to Rick and kissed him on the cheek. "Nice to have you home, kid. Sorry for the welcome wagon, but the girls insisted on accompanying me here."

Rick laughed. "No worries. It's nice to be missed." He walked out of the station with them, hearing the usual maternal questions and feeling the occasional hand adjusting his shirt, patting his back, or feeling his forehead.

"You look too skinny!" one cried. "Are they feeding you in college?"

"Yes maim, they are."

"Do you have pictures for us? You know, of you in that uniform?"

"Sure do. I'll show them to you later, Ms. Johnson."

"Do you like my hair, Ricky?" the eldest, Mrs. Vu asked. "You mom gave me a perm yesterday."

"It's very nice." He said.

"You have a girlfriend at school?" one asked playfully.

Rick cleared his throat. "Uh- no. I'm focusing on my studies right now." He assured them.

Mrs. Wentworth raised her eyebrow.

The large, noisy party parted ways on the sidewalk outside and after a lengthy good-bye and several more kisses on the cheek, Rick was free once more. He and his mother caught a cab home. Rick sat back on his seat and sighed with relief. It was nice to see the familiar route to the apartment flash by his window.

"You look tired." His mom remarked.

Rick shrugged. "I guess I'm pretty beat."

"Well, you can get some sleep after dinner tonight." She said.

Rick smiled. "You're the best."

"And don't think I noticed all that laundry you brought home for me."

"Don't worry," he said, laughing. "I'll do it myself. Promise."

"How's Ben doing?"

"Good." Rick said. "He's been preoccupied lately so I haven't seen much of him."

"Stressed?" Mrs. Wentworth guessed.

He shook his head. "I doubt it. He seems pretty elated, actually."

"Well, that's good."

When they got home, Rick stepped inside and took a deep breath. The entire place smelled like his mom's chili.

"I assumed you'd be hungry. Silly me." His mom joked.

"Good assumption." Rick had lived off of dining hall food and ramen noodles for far too long.

He sat down and shoveled in his food happily. So far, his spring break had gotten off to the perfect start. He was amazed. He'd been waiting for his bad luck to turn around for the longest time. Nothing could crumble his lifted spirits now.

"Have you heard from Anne Elliot lately?"

Well, almost nothing.

Rick awkwardly choked over a large piece of meat at this question. He coughed and sputtered through the discomfort, leaning over the table trying to regain some dignity,

"Uh….what?" he asked. There was no way his mother had just asked what he thought she did. He was probably hallucinating from fatigue.

"Anne Elliot." His mother said again, handing him a glass of water. "She goes to your school, silly. How's she doing?"

"Uh…" Rick started, feeling ambushed. "How did you know she goes to school with me?"

Mrs. Wentworth rolled her eyes. "There was an article in the Post about her father and it mentioned his contribution and the new research building they dedicated. I mean, I was so curious. You never talk about her when I call-"

"Oh no."

"What sweetie?"

"Uh – no." he corrected. "I mean, no. I don't see her. I guess she lives in another side of campus." He said going back to his bowl of chili, hoping the subject would drop.

"Funny." Mrs. Wentworth said, crossing her arms. "The article mentioned she lived in her father's old dorm building – Parsons. Sweetie, that's where you live."

Rick dropped his spoon. "You know what mom? I just feel so tired, I'm going to go to bed."

When Rick got up to retreat to his bedroom, he found his mother blocking the threshold.

Now, Mrs. Wentworth was an extremely intelligent and capable woman. Rick knew this, of course. If she could operate her own steady business, volunteer at their church, and raise a responsible young man all on her own, she sure as hell could tap into the psyche of her son's romantic woes. Rick's mother knew him far too well for convenience.

"So Rick," she started, titling her head knowingly. "When are you going to cave in and tell me what's really bothering you?"

"Bothering me?" Rick asked, trying to sound innocent and chipper. "Nothing's bothering me! Honest!"

She laughed. "Do I look stupid?" she asked.

Rick knew there was only one appropriate answer to that question. "No." he mumbled.

"Ok, so are you going to tell me now, or would you like me to squeeze it out of you slowly and painfully?"

Rick weighed his options. Nothing looked particularly appealing.

"Mom," he said pleadingly. "I seriously don't feel like talking about it now."

Mrs. Wentworth sighed. She could accept that. She stepped out of his way.

"Do you at least want to finish your dinner?" she asked him, feeling a bit guilty for opening the can of worms on his first night back.

"I'll eat later." Rick said, flopping down on his bed. He'd grown so tall that his feet were dangling off the edge.

"OK, honey." His mom said, shutting the door behind her.

So much for my spring break, Rick thought miserably as he dozed off.


	28. Chapter 28: Anne Grows a Pair

Anne Elliot was wondering if any other college student on the planet hated spring break as much as she did at that very moment.

After going through the motions of school for the last week before vacation, Anne felt fairly numb. She discovered that not talking about her feelings was almost as good as not thinking about her feelings (almost), despite Lisa's best efforts to get her to open up more after she spilled the beans that past weekend.

"You'll die if you carry around that much pent-up emotion, Anne Elliot!" her roommate had warned her as she threw her bags in the back of the car her father sent for her. Those were the last words she'd heard before spring break.

Now, Anne was sitting in the living area of her family's penthouse with her headphones in, drowning out the noise of vacation. That noise included her father chatting on conference calls and her sister, Mary constantly asking, "Shouldn't you be going wild somewhere or something?"

She sighed and turned up the volume. Even the shuffle button wasn't on her side today. She flipped through song after song, hoping that one would grab her soon. Distracted in her quest to find the perfect mood music, she didn't notice her Aunt Grace waltz in and stand impatiently in front of her. After waiting for a few moments, she grabbed Anne's ear pieces in an attempt to steal her attention.

"Oh- Aunt Grace." Anne said. "Hey."

"Hello to you." She said, surveying her niece. Anne was in the perfect state of vacation comfort, decked out in baggy sweat pants and a tee shirt.

"Darling," she said, her eyes moving and up and down. "Why don't you run along and put something special on?"

"Why?" Anne asked.

"Uh- we're going to have a special dinner here tonight, OK?"

"Is someone coming?"

"I suppose you could say that." Aunt Grace said, successfully holding back a smile. "I'm going to ask Rita to whip up a few special things."

"What?" Anne joked. "Tuna noodle casserole? Chili? I could go for a nice bowl of chili."

"Honestly." Aunt Grace said. "I was thinking more lobster puffs and brie."

Anne shrugged. She'd had enough fancy cheese in her lifetime to feel indifferent to it.

Aunt Grace gave her niece another once over."Why don't you wear that cocktail dress I bought you over the weekend? The black one?"

What was it to her? "Sure. Why not?" Anne said, getting up and stretching out.

She trudged across the penthouse to her bedroom and closed the door. When she walked in her closet she found the dress hanging neatly on display with matching shoes below them. Clearly, Aunt Grace was sending her a message. After wiggling into her evening outfit and slipping in her heels, she flopped down on her bed to pass the time.

The same questions had been running through her mind for the past week: what next? Honestly, Anne had hoped this pitiful feeling she carried around since last Saturday would eventually fade, but it showed no signs of weakening. In fact, the more time pasted, the more vividly the memory replayed in her mind. Her brain seemed to be torturing her.

After a few minutes, Anne had fallen asleep. Clearly, her post- midterm exhaustion still hadn't worn off. By the time her eyes opened, the only light coming out of her window was a muted evening glow. She groaned into her pillow, feeling especially groggy and light headed. Fighting the urge to fall back to sleep again, she listened to her growling stomach and decided sitting through a fancy dinner wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Anne got up and smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress. Not bothering to glance in the mirror, she opened her door and walked down the hallway. She had assumed that the murmurs she'd heard from her room were her family members mixed with the usual classical background music her Father played during meals. As she continued on her path, the noise got louder. Much louder.

Anne wished she could've been surprised at this, but spontaneous cocktail hours had happened too often in the Elliot Penthouse to be novel. When she stepped out of the private hallway of the residence, she saw a few dozen people mingling around, tippling champagne and martinis in designer dresses and suits. A quartet was playing fainting from the corner of the room and servers navigated around with beautiful people with their silver trays of her aunt's promised lobster puffs.

"Anne, dear." Aunt Grace swept over to her upon her entrance and ushered her across the room, handing her a glass of club soda at the same time. "I was wondering where you were."

"Sorry," she grumbled in response. "Fell asleep."

"That's ok." She brushed off. "You're here now. Come on, let's go over here."

Anne proceeded to chat casually with the guests, a custom that she was more than used to after so many years of practice. She smiled and answered questions about school, wishing she could place half the faces she encountered. From the corner of her eyes she spotted Mary on Charlie's arm. Poor Charlie looked slightly uncomfortable. Anne wondered if that was just her perspective.

"Anne, we hear so much about you from your father." Mrs. Wellington said touching her arm (that was her name, wasn't it?).

"Really?" Anne couldn't help but be surprised at that.

"Of course!" a voice chimed in from behind her. Anne felt a strong arm reach around her shoulders and looked up to see the one and only Walter Elliot at her side. Being this close to him felt foreign to Anne, but she didn't complain.

"Walter," Mrs. Wilson said (yes! That must've been her name…right?). "You were absolutely right. Your daughter is delightful."

Anne blushed and her father gave her an unexpected but affectionate squeeze.

"When am I ever wrong?" he beamed.

She had to admit, she liked this feeling. Even though she was in a dress she hated, drinking a beverage without a taste, and talking to people she didn't know, Anne Elliot felt oddly happy in that moment. It was a rare comfort when she received any notice or gratification. Anne hated to admit it, but sometimes she felt as though that's why she went through all the tedious motions in the first place. She used to collect those occasional looks or bits of praise her father used to give off, as if to keep them safe. They reminded her of the way things used to be – when her mother was standing where she was now, when the motions didn't seem like motions for either of them.

Anne found herself wrapping her arm around him too and giving a small hug back.

Isn't it funny though? Just when you think fate has some sense it surprises you cruelly. Just when you think there is logic in the world, despite everything, a sick sort of curve ball is pelted at you?

Reality slaps suck.

"Anne?"

Still radiating, Anne turned around at the sound of her name, not registering the familiar sound of the voice. Her arm was still around her father securely and he turned with her.

"Will Eaton!" Mr. Elliot cried, letting go of his daughter and throwing his hand up in the air happily. He bounded forward and shook the boy's hand eagerly. Will returned his grip and the faces of the surrounding people seemed to light up at the sound of his last name.

Somehow –and she wasn't sure how – Anne managed to not yell or fall over. She took a minute to make sure she was awake. Hadn't she been sleeping before? She had been on her bed just a moment ago, hadn't she?

"Hi Anne." The beautiful, six foot mirage said to her hesitantly.

Oh no. It was very, very real.

Anne winced.

"Hi." She said stiffly.

Her father chuckled, looking back and forth between the two young folk. "Anne, are you going to say anything else to Will?"

"Your nose healed fast." She said, thinking on her feet

Mr. Elliot's eye brows furrowed in confusion, but he ultimately seemed content with ignorance.

It was only a matter of time until Aunt Grace joined them. "William!" she cried enthusiastically. She had that glint in her eye – a glint that plainly confessed who had the sick idea to invite him to the Elliot home. "I'm so glad you're here!"

Anne clenched her fists.

"It's about time you came around." Mr. Elliot said. "Can I refill that drink for you?" he asked Will. Anne noticed his glass was still half full anyway.

"No thank you, Mr. Elliot. I'm fine for now." He said pleasantly. Through her fury Anne could still detect come hesitance on his part. Despite it all, Will Eaton wasn't stupid. She would give him that. He knew just what she thought of him right now.

"Please! Call me Walter." Her father dismissed casually.

"Well," Aunt Grace sang as she winked at Will. "He must like you."

Anne's jaw dropped. Was she in some sort of horror film? Had she not told her just days before that she and Will broke up. Had she hallucinated that particularly awkward moment? It was unlikely considering the uncomfortable exchange in the car had been burned into her brain.

"Aunt Grace." Anne said through gritted teeth. "May I speak with you in private?"

"Not in front of guests, sweet heart." She said, smiling to the room.

Will coughed uncomfortably, but Anne ignored him. "Then why don't we step somewhere privately?"

"Anne," Will started. "if this is about -"

She silenced him with a cold look. Her focus shifted back to her aunt.

"Fine." Aunt Grace said tritely. "William, will you excuse us while we step into the study? It won't take more than a minute."

Anne rolled her eyes. She sincerely doubted that. Not looking back, she stepped swiftly toward the large doors of her father's study. It was ironic, really. When she was little, she wasn't allowed in there because it was where business was conducted. She'd always pictured very important things occurring inside.

"Look," Anne said the second Aunt Grace shut the door. "I'm not sure what game you're playing, but I thought I told you-"

"I know what you told me!" she interjected. "It's just…I thought you might appreciate a second chance, sweetie. You always act so hastily, Anne."

Her back to the door and her innocent face on display, Anne almost dropped it. Almost.

"But…" she sputtered. "I don't want a second _anything_ with him!"

Aunt Grace crossed her arms. Her perfectly painted nails delicately draped across the pale skin of her arm. Everything that woman did, she did with ease. Anne was used to this. Still, that particular character trait made it almost impossible to fight with her.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and a rough voice outside.

"Grace, let me in!"

"No!" Anne cried. "Don't let him in!"

Before she could even finish her sentence, the door had opened for Mr. Elliot. He strode into the space with his usual manner, staring at his eldest daughter severely. Here it comes, Anne thought.

"Anne Elliot," he said, layering his tone with authority. "You get back into that room and be pleasant."

"Why?"

"Because I am your father!"

"Are there any other reasons you can think of?" Anne countered. She stomped lightly on the carpeted floor, clearly stating her determination to stay put.

He sighed. "Honestly, I don't see why you're making this so difficult."

"And I don't see why you decided to invite the last person on the planet I want to see right now!"

"Listen to your father, Anne." Aunt Grace warned.

"Why?" she asked again, feeling childish.

"He's such a nice boy…"

"Who's a nice boy?" a voice sounded from the cracked door before Anne could protest. Mary popped her head into the study awkwardly. "What are you guys doing in here?"

"Nothing!" the three of them answered sharply.

"Mary, for the love of all that is good please don't – _come in_." Anne mumbled the last part of her phrase in defeat as her sister shut the door behind her and nestled on a nearby arm chair. She looked up like she was watching a movie.

"Anne," her father said more softly this time. "I just want the best for you. Really I do."

"Well dad, sometimes what's best for me isn't synonymous with what's best for your social and monetary interests! How do you even know what's best for me? You don't even know me!"

"Don't speak to your father that way!" Aunt Grace said, appalled.

Anne ignored her. She locked eyes with her father. He didn't show any signs of denying her statement. Even he couldn't lie like that.

"Seriously, you need to stop pushing this." Anne said, making eye contact with all of her family members in the room. In the back of her mind she noted the strange feel of it all. When was the last time they were all in the same room and talking?

Mary put her hands up in the air. "I didn't do anything."

"Is this about…" Aunt Grace seemed like she was hesitating on a dirty word. "_that_ boy?"

Anne groaned. She knew exactly the root of Aunt Grace's fear. "Actually it doesn't have anything to do with 'that boy'!"

"Then what is the problem, Anne?" her father asked desperately. "Why on earth can't you just go out there and talk to Will? Why can't you just - "

"Because I hate this dress!" Anne said impulsively.

Everyone in the room blinked at her random answer.

"Excuse me?" a startled Aunt Grace asked.

"Can I have it then?" Mary chimed in.

"I hate this dress." Anne repeated with an odd, inexplicable smile on her face. "I hate this dress, I hated boarding school, and I hate club soda." She slammed her drink down on the table. Mary jumped at the noise.

"I hate politicians, politics, and liars." She continued, her voice rising. "I hate panty hose, pearls, and blind dates. I am not a bargaining chip! I'm not a photo opportunity! I am not a last name. I hate being told every minute of everyday what I should do and what I should be."

"She's finally cracked I think." Mary mumbled to herself.

Mr. Elliot only blinked dumbly, as if seeing his daughter for the first time. Then again, he was in a way. Almost every day he would walk by her. He walked by the same eyes, quiet expression, and dark hair (the lengths changing over the years), but never before had he seen the confident realization that was on her face now. It made him want to ask more questions…lots of them. Despite this impulse, he couldn't manage to make words come out of his mouth.

Anne sighed contently at her audience. "I think I'm done now. Excuse me." She turned on her heel and exited gracefully from the room, as if in a blissful trance.

Aunt Grace laughed nervously and followed Anne down the corridor towards her bedroom. When she arrived she discovered her niece sliding an old sweatshirt over her dress and kicking off her heels.

"Anne Elliot!" she said harshly. "Go back in that room this instant and apologize to your father!"

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"No." Anne said again. "I'm not going to apologize just to please them. I don't mean it."

"Anne, if this is about that boy-"

"Aunt Grace!" Anne said sharply. "I told you before, this isn't about him. I'm not doing this for anyone else but me, and you know what? It's about time I stood up for myself."

"This is ridiculous-"

"Look, Aunt Grace." Anne said seriously. "I'm tired of playing along."

"Playing along..?"

Anne sighed. "I love you. I love all of you. That's never going to change. You know that. It's just…I can't be my mom. I've tried, but I can't. I give up. And you know what? I think she would've liked it better this way too. I really do"

"You're not making any sense at all!" Aunt Grace said, watching her niece grab her wallet and tie up a pair of converse shoes. "Where do you think you're going anyway?" she asked desperately.

Tying her long black hair in a messy bun, she smiled at the question. "Out." She said simply. "I'm about three years late for an appointment."


	29. Chapter 29: The First Kiss

Anne Elliot couldn't remember the last time she was on the subway. True, she could've taken a cab to Brooklyn, but somehow the gesture didn't seem appropriate. After purchasing a new fare card and reminding herself which line to take, she stepped into the train trying to ignore the jumping in her stomach. She wasn't sure whether she was excited or just frightened. Then again, it might've been the natural high she was experiencing after her little cocktail hour show.

Funny how it all made perfect sense now. She knew exactly what she had to do. He'd risked his pride for her and now it was her turn.

For now, all she could do was sit down in her seat, lean her head against the glass and wait as lights turned to streaks across her reflection.

***

_Mary Elliot had opened the door to find a panting 16-year-old Rick Wentworth outside in the hallway._

_"Oh. It's you." She dismissed._

_Rick wanted to laugh. "Who were you expecting?"_

_She shrugged. "Someone, I guess."_

_He kept his smile to himself. Sometimes that girl really amused him._

_Without even asking, Mary pointed across their penthouse towards Anne's room. "She's packing if you want to apologize. That fight you two had was pretty epic."_

_"How would you know?" he asked as he started walking toward the bedroom._

_She smiled mischievously. "I was listening in."_

_Rick sighed. So much for privacy._

_He rapped twice on the door._

_"I'm packing, dad!" he heard Anne call from the other side._

_He knocked again._

_"I'm packing, Aunt Grace!"_

_And again._

_"Leave me alone, Mary!"_

_"It's me, Anne." He said to the door._

_He heard footsteps approaching and the knob twisted as Anne peaked her head out. Her short dark hair swung in her face._

_"So you've come to grovel?" she asked looking rather smug, still not giving him access to her room._

_He stepped forward confidently. "Maybe I have. I was kind of a-"_

_"Jerk?" Anne offered._

_He nodded. "Yeah, I guess I was a jerk over the phone earlier. So…am I forgiven?"_

_She squinted her eyes at him, but eventually opened her door all the way. Rick took that as a good sign._

_"What made you come all the way over here? Last time I spoke to you, I thought you were going to make an Anne Elliot voodoo doll." She walked over to her four poster bed and started folding clothing into neat piles._

_"I haven't ruled it out." He warned. Rick glanced over at Anne. Clearly, she'd spent most of her afternoon packing. She wore jeans and an old tee shirt as she frolicked around her room, organizing her real clothes. Rick decided he liked her best that way._

_"You could've apologized over the phone, you know." She pointed out._

_"I know."_

_"So…why are you here then?" she asked curiously._

_Rick swallowed hard, running a shaking hand through his long brown hair. "You still have the sunflower wall paper up?" he asked randomly._

_Anne sighed distractedly. "Yeah, I'm going to miss it. It made my room glow in the mornings."_

_"Then maybe you shouldn't leave. You know, if you're going to miss your wall paper that much. No use in wasting…uh…good wall paper when you have it. Right?"_

_Anne dropped the sweater she was folding and raised her eyebrow. "Wentworth, you're not making any sense."_

_"It's just…" he was desperately trying to find the right words. That was the problem with teenage boys. The seldom found the right words – even when they tried._

_Anne walked slowly over to him and squeezed his arm. "I'm really going to miss you, too." She said softly._

_Rick winced. "Uh… that's not really what I was going to say, Anne."_

_She stepped back, confused. "Wait a second. You came to the Upper East Side to tell me that you're not going to miss me? Seriously?"_

_"No, that's not it at all-" Rick groaned in frustration._

_"What? You came to tell me tell me you you're coming with me to my all girls' school?" she joked._

_"No."_

_"Did you come to return that C.D. you-?"_

_"You shouldn't go!" he finally blurted out._

_Anne blinked. . "Do you really want to have this argument again, Rick? I thought you came here in peace." She said, shoving clothing into her luggage._

_"I did!" he insisted. "But why do you have to do everything they say?"_

_"They're my family, Rick! What else am I supposed to do?" she asked helplessly._

_"Anne, I know you don't want to go! Cut the crap!"_

_"I do want to go." She lied perfectly._

_He folded his arms, feeling dizzy from their circular argument of the day._

_"Rick," she said. "I need you to be my friend and let me leave, ok?"_

_You had to hand it to him. If there was one thing Rick Wentworth could be, it was stubborn. He held his ground like a stone wall and stared her down. When they were little, all Anne had to do was pinch of tickle him to get her friend to fold. For some reason she didn't think that tactic would work now._

_"You're impossible." She said, though the corners of her mouth were betraying a smile. He looked like he was five years old again, playing Cowboys and Indians._

_"I'm not moving."_

_"Well, I am Rick – whether you like it or not."Anne warned._

_"I'm still not moving."_

_"You'll have to go home some time."_

_He shrugged._

_"For five seconds could you forget that we're fighting and give me a proper goodbye like a real human being?" she asked desperately._

_Nothing._

_She sighed. "Is this what you came all the way down here for? Really? That's it? That's your burning reason to visit? You crossed the bridge to rub it all in nice and painfully? You're not even going to say goodbye?"_

_Anne couldn't fool him, she was hurt by this. She was just good at hiding it. Rick wanted to say something sincere – maybe man up and say the real reason he was here. Where would he start? Was there a poetic translation for 'So I was doing my calculus homework and I realized I'm in love with you…?' Did people actually talk like that?_

_"Fine." He heard her voice crack subtly as she uncrossed her arms and tried to seem unfazed. "If you're not going to say goodbye then I will. Then, you can leave me alone."_

_Without looking at him, Anne bounded forward and took a familiar place against his chest – a place where he suddenly noticed she fit perfectly. He couldn't help but let out a sigh when they finally touched. He felt her body loosen, losing the tension they'd built from the past few days of fighting. How had he never noticed how wonderful this felt? Rick wondered how many of these hugs he'd taken for granted before. How many did it take for him to really feel it?_

_Anne lingered for a bit, her body language was tender. Obviously, she wasn't dwelling in anger. Then again, if this was their last hug before she left, it made sense. Rick tensed at that thought, but she didn't notice. In a sweeping, yet casual moment, Anne lifted her face up to peck him on the cheek. Rick knew exactly what she was doing. She'd done it countless times before and his heart had never skipped a beat. In that instant, however, he had no idea what he was doing. His common sense had been trumped. He wasn't even sure if he'd made the conscious decision to do what he was about to do. It just…happened._

_As her lips moved to the side of his face, he swiftly turned toward her at the last moment, capturing her lips in a kiss. They were surprised. They were soft. He held on as long as he could- as long as Anne was caught off guard and somehow kissing him back out of confusion. Rick's heart jumped in his chest. She tasted like vanilla. He felt like that guy from the VJ Day poster on her yellow wall – something she'd forgotten to pack. Rick had leaned in to it further, not realizing that his arms were now wrapped around the small of her back and her body was bending backward. She held on to his neck to keep from falling, not knowing what else to do – not knowing what was going on. When he stepped back, he saw Anne and he felt his stomach drop._

_She stood there, dizzy and paralyzed on the spot, mouth half open._

_"Anne?" he asked._

_Silence._

_"Anne?" he asked again. "Are you going to say anything?"_

_She finally brought herself to look at him again. "Why did you-?"_

_"I love you." He interrupted suddenly. It came out like a cough – like something quick he couldn't hold in any longer._

_Rick watched his best friend's chest rise and fall steadily. Her breathing seemed to be the only sound in the room for a while. Watching her in that moment, he saw something startling in the way she looked at him that he'd never seen before._

_She didn't trust him._

_"Anne! Sweetie!" he heard an all too familiar voice call from the hallway. "Anne, I found your course schedule."_

_The door to Anne's bedroom opened abruptly, but neither teenager moved an inch. Aunt Grace looked between the two, masking her distaste horribly._

_"Oh, Rick." She said. "It's nice to see you again." Somehow he doubted her sincerity._

_"Anne?" he asked one last time, refusing to break eye contact with her._

_"Dear, we have some forms to sign." Her aunt said from the door. Anne's head turned toward her voice. Though her eyes were on Aunt Grace, Rick could tell she wasn't really looking at her. She wasn't really looking at anything._

_Then, as he held his breath, he saw Anne turn to the door. That pretty much said it all. As she walked out of the room without saying a word to him, he wondered what she was thinking. He wondered whether she was repulsed, confused, or shocked._

_That's the thing. It's impossible to read someone when their back is turned to you._

***

Anne fidgeted in her seat, secretly wondering if the subways had gotten slower since she last rode them. People around her were starting to stare. Then again, that could've been her sweatshirt, cocktail dress, converse combo.

When it finally stopped, she bolted from the train and rushed up to the sidewalk. She let her instincts lead her at an all too familiar place.


	30. Chapter 30: Breaking and Entering

It would've been far more romantic if Anne Elliot wasn't sweating.

She wiped her forehead with the back of her sweatshirt sleeve and stared at the Wentworth's front door. It was large, black and ominous. Never before had she been so terrified by a piece of wood. She took a deep breath and knocked confidently.

She cleared her throat and knocked again.

And again.

Anne's face fell along with her fist. This was turning out to be a very anticlimactic moment. Whatever happened to those glorious cinematic scenes that were supposed to unfold at times like these? She felt there should be wind billowing through her hair or an inspiring soundtrack playing in the background. Sadly, things like that didn't seem happen to her. She crossed her arms in defeat, feeling her post-family confrontation buzz wearing off.

Then, Anne Elliot had a very un-Anne Elliot sort of idea.

Fishing through her hair she found a bobby pin buried under the messy knot on the top of her head. Without even wrapping her mind around her uncharacteristic spontaneity (or the crimes she was committing), she got on her knees in front of the lock and began picking like a mad woman.

You can imagine her surprise when her plan actually worked. The door swung open, revealing the familiar but empty living room. Everything was exactly how she remembered. The tacky blue couch she loved so much looked just as lumpy and glorious as the last night she and Rick had a movie night on it. The rug still had the same stain on it from when she spilled her grape juice at age ten. Mrs. Wentworth's cross stitches were still framed on the walls. The place even smelled the same – like pine trees and cinnamon. Stepping into the space, she let out a sigh. A small part of her felt like she was home again.

The sound of keys jigging on the other side of the door knocked Anne out of her nostalgic reverie.

"Damn it." She mumbled, looking around desperately for a hiding place. She rushed down the narrow hallway in front of her and through the first door on her right.

Rick's room.

Her back was flat against the door and she tried her best to quiet her nervous breathing.

She could hear distinct sounds from the kitchen and living room area. She heard a facet running and a plate hit a counter top. Then, a throat cleared. It was definitely a male throat.

Instinctively, she dashed into his closet and backed up, letting a row of collared shirts fall in front of her face. Anne tried to keep her composure and ignore that fact that they all smelled like Rick.

Anne Elliot considered that time – the few minutes spent hiding pointlessly behind Rick Wentworth's neatly pressed shirts – as one of the lower points in her life. Only a little while before, she'd been bravely running through the streets of New York. She had been determined- a woman on a mission. Now, she was holding her breath and trying to recall exactly why she thought breaking and entering was a good idea.

Rick was whistling and it was growing louder. The door of his room opened and Anne bit on her hand to keep from squealing. Through the wooden panels of his closet, pieces of his room fell within her visibility. Rick sighed and threw a thick book on his bed. He walked over to his stereo and turned on some loud rock music that Anne didn't recognize. She exhaled, finally allowing herself to make noise. She kept telling herself everything would be fine. She was a patient person, after all. She could wait this out and maybe sneak down the fire escape when he left. She had nothing to fear whatsoever.

Then, Anne did a double take. Was he doing what she thought he was doing? No it couldn't be. It was funny too, because judging by the way he was moving his arms over his head it looked almost as if he was taking his shirt off. Anne then realized that was exactly what he was doing. Though on the surface this sight wasn't at all unpleasing to Anne (or any female for that matter), she knew that her perfectly orchestrated plan of patience wasn't going to work now.

It was an unfortunate truth, but people that undressed tended to open their closet for more clothes.

"AHHHHHH!"

Not knowing what else do to, Anne jumped out of his closet when he opened it, but this only seemed to add to his terror.

His instinctive Navy skills finally put to the test, Rick seized the figure hiding in his closet, grabbed their shoulders and pinned them to his bed in one sweeping movement. It was then that he realized this person was much smaller than an average burglar…and smelled much nicer.

"Hi." She said softly, looking up at him. Even though Anne knew Rick probably hated her (and her acts of civil disobedience didn't add to her credit), she couldn't help that her voice caught in her throat at the site of him. Give the girl a break. His shirt was off.

Rick's eyes widened and he jumped off of Anne.

"What the hell, Anne?!" he cried, racing over to the other side of the room to turn off his music. "What were you- why…."

"I'm sorry!" Anne said, sitting up. "I'm sorry!"

"You were in my…my…"

"I know!"

He hands on his hips now, he looked up at his ceiling. Clearly he was trying to digest the little information that he had.

"Did I…did I hurt you just then? Are you OK?"

Anne paused for a moment before answering, a little surprised that this was his first reaction.

"I 'm fine." She assured him.

"OK, well then maybe you could explain to me how you got into my apartment and why you were hiding in my closet!"

"Well," Anne said, trying to compose herself. "I broke in."

"You broke in?" he asked incredulously. "How did you manage that?"

She held up her crooked bobby pin.

His raised his eyebrows. "Does that really work?"

"Apparently." Anne confessed.

The two stood in awkward silence for a bit. Neither had ever been in a situation like this before. Society doesn't usually condition people for these specific interactions.

"Rick, I know this looks bad." Anne said, standing up and walking toward him.

He only backed away more. "You're telling me!"

"Well, I had something really important to tell you and it couldn't wait!" she cried.

Rick stopped. "Important enough to bust out voyeuristic habits?"

Anne rolled her eyes. "Oh come on!" she cried. "It's not like I asked you to undress."

"Just get to the point!"

"Fine!" she said, feeling feistier than she expected. "I wanted to tell you that I stood up to my family today."

Rick faltered. He hadn't expected this.

Anne took advantage of his unreadable silence. "Look, I… I just had to do it. They were trying to force me on Will and fashion me into this…thing. I love them, you were right. I was letting them control my life. I couldn't take it anymore so I walked out. Well, I ran out actually."

Rick's gaze was focused on the floor. "Why are you telling me this, Anne?"

She sighed. "I wanted you to know."

"Why?"

"Because that's what we do! When something like this happens to me, I always want you to be the first to know. That's how we've always worked and that's how I've always felt. Being apart from you hasn't changed that!"

"So that's why you came all the way to Brooklyn and broke into my apartment?" he said skeptically. "Because you were just dying to tell me this news?"

"Well, yes….and no." Anne said, feeling more confused than ever. "I mean, aren't you glad I stood up to them?"

"I think it's more important if you are."

Anne's face erupted into a wide smile. It was something he missed. "Well, yeah. I feel …relieved. Actually, I feel pretty great!"

Rick made a strange movement. He raised his arms for a second and leaned forward as if advancing toward her. If Anne didn't know any better, she would've thought he wanted to hug her. Nevertheless, Rick cleared his throat and stepped back again. "Sorry….I uh…"

Anne's eyes darted back and forth. She was trying her best not to stare at him.

"I'm really proud of you, Anne." He said more seriously. "I mean, I know I was pretty harsh before, but-"

"I needed to hear it." She assured him. "And only you could have said it."

They made eye contact for a second then both turned away awkwardly.

"So, that's all?" he asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Is that all you came to tell me?"

"Uh – yeah."

"Ok." He said, a smile twitching on his face.

"Why?"

"Oh nothing." He said. "I just thought there might be something else you wanted to talk about."

She laughed nervously, feeling like a cowardly idiot. "Like what?"

He shrugged, "You tell me."

Faking it would be much easier if Rick could just put a damn shirt on.

"Well, I…"

"Yes?" he asked stepping closer to her again.

"It's just that…."

"Yes?"

She laughed nervously. "Oh, I forget."

Anne felt paralyzed and didn't know why. Her mind was recalling the same moment only three years ago when she was this close and this scarred. She'd walked away then. Was it actually possible that she could find a way to mess this up a second time around? Count on Anne Elliot to achieve the impossible.

Rick's smile neutralized at her apathetic answer. He felt pretty stupid. Over the years he'd learned to read her looks. He knew when she was nervous, sad, apprehensive, and uncomfortable. There was something about her then – maybe her expression when he was on top of her or the way her eyes fixed on his when she spoke – that made him strangely optimistic. Then again, it all might have been his imagination. In defeat, Rick unceremoniously walked toward his sock drawer and started fishing through it.

Anne bit her bottom lip. This was one of those defining moments. She could feel it. Clearly, there was a choice to be made here – one that she had been putting off for a while now. Then again, timing was everything in life. If she'd said yes three years ago would it have lasted? Would she have appreciated him as much as she did right then? Standing there in Rick's bedroom she was still the nervous, timid Anne Elliot. This time, however, she was three years wiser, liberated from family obligation, and more afraid of losing him than ever before.

"You know what?" her voice was stronger now. "I just remembered. There was something else I wanted to say."

"Oh really?" Rick said without looking back.

"Yeah, I'm in love with you."

A pile of socks tumbled to the floor and Rick turned around to face her.

"What?"

"I'm in love with you." She repeated more confidently." Well, to be entirely accurate, I've been in love with you for a _while _now. Years, actually."

"Ok." Rick said, looking shocked.

"Ok."

Rick stuffed his hands in his pockets, as if waiting for something to happen. Anne knew him better than to take this as an insult. He always needed time to process things. After a few moments of this he looked back up at her.

"I would like to try something now." Anne said suddenly.

"Try something?" Rick asked.

"Yes." Her confidence peaked as she closed the distance between them and kissed him on the mouth. It lasted maybe two seconds before she broke it and backed away, ready and waiting for any insight he might have on the situation.

That's when Rick started laughing.

Anne Elliot was quite alarmed. _What kind of sick and twisted reaction was this?_

"Hey!" she cried. "If I remember correctly this isn't the first time one of us has unceremoniously kissed the other in their respective bedroom, Rick!"

But he was still laughing. Anne had no idea what to make of this. Should she be insulted or upset? The whole thing was starting to make her nervous again. Beads of sweat gathered on her brow. She took off her sweatshirt and threw it angrily on the ground.

Rick stopped laughing, partly because he knew this was confusing her and partly because of the dress she was wearing.

"Well?" she asked. "Do you have anything to say?"

He looked at her again and smiled. Everything – from her messy dark hair to her cocktail dress down to her converse shoes – he was in love with it all.

Rick took his time now because he knew he could.

He reached out and laced his fingers between hers. Their gazes locked in place. He drew her towards him slowly and Anne let the gravity of their situation fall in place. They held their hands together at either side. Suddenly, Anne didn't feel so angry. Rick's hands were traveling up her bare arms and were cupping her face. Her head tilted up towards his. They stood that way, savoring it. Then, Rick swooped down and closed the space.

It wasn't a rushed question mark like all their other kisses before. This was a clear, strong statement. It was slow, mutual, and breathtaking. Anne gasped beneath his lips at first then she felt him smile. She sighed happily into his mouth and his lips tenderly overlapped her own. Her hands were pressed gently against his bare chest so she could feel his warmth and heart beat. His hands were still cradling her face, thumbs gently stroking her flushed cheeks. Every move he made electrified her. In an effort to get as close to him as possible, she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into the kiss. It was then she realized her feet weren't touching the ground anymore. When had he picked her up? When had he gotten so _strong_?

"Rick, Sweetie! I'm home!"

The door swung open and they broke apart quickly. Somehow Rick managed not to drop Anne in the process.

Mrs. Wentworth's jaw dropped. This, of course, was a normal reaction for any mother who walks in on her half naked son making out with a girl in his bedroom. Not to mention, he was making out with Anne Elliot, a girl she hadn't seen in years. As a result there was an odd mixture of happiness, horror and surprise in her expression.

"Anne!" she cried, clearing her throat. "It's been so long!"

Anne almost whimpered out of embarrassment. "I know…"

"Mom…I was just…" Rick started weakly, turning beet red.

Mrs. Wentworth looked between the two and sighed. As uncomfortable as this was for her, she wouldn't switch places with either of them for the world.

"Anne," she said warmly. "Would you like to stay for a late dinner?"

Anne smiled in surprise. She looked sideways at Rick who looked just as astonished. "I'd love to." She answered.

"Wonderful!" she said. "I'll go set an extra place at the table. Anne, you can wash your hands in the bath room – you remember where it is, don't you? Oh, and Rick – I think it would be best if you put on a shirt."

Anne snickered.

"If you insist." Rick mumbled.

"You two have some explaining to do." Mrs. Wentworth called out as she walked back to the kitchen. "Just because you're in college now, doesn't mean a mother doesn't have a right to know!"

The two looked at each other and smiled. They had a _long_ story to tell.

.


	31. Chapter 31 : Some Laughter, Some Closure

Anne told Mrs. Wentworth the whole story that night. Mrs. Wentworth was happy, but not surprised by how the story ended. After a perfect evening, Anne and Rick spent the rest of Spring Break together. They hit their favorite spots in the city and enjoyed the amazing, everyday moments with each other that they had missed so much. It wasn't long before they were back at school. Their last obstacle was figuring out a way to explain everything to their acquaintances. They didn't know it at the time, but completing this task would end up being very straightforward and simple.

"Spring Break was too short!" whined Lisa, pulling her bags out the elevator. Ben was right behind her, managing as best her could with the rest of her load.

"You own tons of stuff…" he said. "Why would anyone need so many shoes?"

Lisa smiled sweetly at her adorable yet ignorant significant other. "Lisa is to shoes as Ben is to books."

"Nice analogy," he complimented, stopping in front of her door. "Do you think Anne is back yet?'

She shrugged and fished around for her keys. "Not sure. She was so down before break. I've decided to cheer her up with some ice cream and girly movies. You are obviously not invited."

"Yeah, Rick wasn't looking too good either last week." He said.

Lisa stuck her key in and turned the knob. "God, I hope those two get it together…"

The lights were on in her room, but that was perhaps the least surprising detail they found inside.

Anne and Rick were glued together in the center of the room. His hands were tangled in her long hair and hers cupped his face. Neither seemed to notice that the door had opened.

Ben's jaw dropped dramatically. Lisa cleared her throat, not knowing what else to do.

Anne and Rick reluctantly broke apart and saw - much to Anne's mortification- their unexpected audience.

"_Honestly, people need to stop walking in on us…_" mumbled Rick under his breath.

Ben jumped into the hallway, taking Lisa with him. He slammed the door and turned to her with a shocked expression.

"Whoa…" was all he said. "Am a completely stupid or did that just come out of nowhere?"

Lisa smiled. "I would argue that it's a little bit of both."

Inside the room, Anne was burying her blushing face into Rick's chest.

"That was nice a subtle." She said sarcastically. Though Anne was now happily united with Rick, she noticed that the general awkwardness of her life had not disappeared. She looked up at Rick, expecting him to say something comforting, but all she saw was him holding back laughter.

"What's so funny?!" she asked, hitting him in the arm.

Rick finally erupted and couldn't stop to reply. The thing about Rick's laugh was that it was contagious. Anne was starting to fall victim to it.

"Hey!" she said again, trying not to smile. "It's not – not funny!"

Rick didn't say anything, but only grabbed his girlfriend around the midsection and started to tickle her. He didn't stop until she was as hysterical as he was. They fell on the bed, Rick still laughing and Anne squirming around and crying out.

Anne Elliot couldn't remember the last time she laughed that hard.

* * *

And everything was as it should be.

Anne Elliot, the girl that out grew her family name, was totally and completely in love with her former best friend and current boyfriend Rick Wentworth. It was like coming up for air after three years under water. Her world felt lighter and less constrained. Even her family eventually came to accept the couple.

Then again, Anne didn't really give them much of a choice in the matter.

**Author's Note: **Thanks for reading. It is really done now, I swear! If you're interested in more Austen fan fiction, check out my story Platonic is a Funny word (a modern Emma with a gender reversal). It will be completed soon, too!


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